The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis
by Chuckman
Summary: A single moment of despair births parallel infinities. So long as the sun, moon, and stars exist, we will endure. So long as there is one more breath to be taken, there is always hope. The absolute enemy is coming, and Shinji Ikari must assemble the greatest force of heroes the universe has ever seen to prevent the destruction of everything that ever was or ever will be.
1. One Night on Earth

Disclaimer:

The following work incorporates so many ideas, concepts, characters and settings that listing them all here will just get in the way. Rest assured, I'll cover everyone in the end.

None of them are mine.

Author's Note: Despite all appearances to the contrary, this story doesn't belong in the crossover section, because it isn't one.

Now, I'll get out of the way. The lights go down, the curtain parts, and the players take the stage...

* * *

_The story so far..._

Gendo Ikari had hands. He stared at them, holding them up against the red sky, turning them in small circles to examine his own flesh. A cool breeze played over his skin, and he felt a familiar warmth that made his heart seize. He leaned his head forward and touched his chin to another, felt her soft hair tug at his beard. He looked down and saw Yui, his Yui, naked as the day she was born, curled against his side. She let out a soft sigh and rested her chin on his chest, meeting her gaze with his own.

"Goodbye," she said, and then she was gone.

She simply ceased to exist. His heart seized, and his breath caught in his chest. He rolled onto his side in the sand and gasped. The sea before him ran red with blood, lapping at the shore with a pink froth. He stood and stared down at himself, dumbfounded, as he was intact. He looked around in a panic, searching here and there. It wasn't supposed to happen like that. They were supposed to be together forever.

He stopped when he saw Shinji seated on a rock, gazing impassively out at the sea. Snarling, Gendo ran to him, hands poised to clamp down on his throat. When he reached him, he seized the boy by the neck and shook him, but it was like trying to plunge his fingers into marble. Shinji laughed at him contemptuously and brushed him off with a wave of his arm, forcing him into the white sand under his feet.

"I have her now," said Shinji, touching his chest. "She lives forever in me, as do they all. She and she alone will suffer loneliness, I fear. Even now Asuka and the others are drawn to the bosoms of their mothers. For Misato, the week she spent in bed with her Kaji will never end. Ritsuko and Maya will lie in bed after that first night they went for coffee together for the rest of eternity. Though Hyuga never knew her touch, he will wake up beside Misato, drenched in her sweat, every day for the rest of forever."

He fixed his gaze on Gendo. His eyes were hard. "Some, I denied entrance into the new heaven. I crushed Kiel's throat myself. They will not suffer as you suffer, though, for I merely excluded them. You, on the other hand…"

"What have you done?"

Shinji's gaze rose, and Gendo looked up at the great black orb hovering over their heads, Lilith's Egg shining in the heavens.

"You, I have perfected. Your flesh will never mortify. You will never age or fear disease. Any injury you inflict on yourself will reverse itself in a matter of hours. You are immortal, Gendo Ikari. You are eternal. When the stars go out and the universe goes cold, Gendo Ikari will remain to contemplate its nothingness forever."

"Why did you have to let me see her first? Why must you be so cruel?"

"I was not cruel," said Shinji. "That was her wish, not yours. That it flavors your suffering is incidental."

Shinji stood up, smiling, as Gendo sank to his knees. He gestured, and beside him, a pool of darkness formed. It formed into a monolith that gradually rose from the sand, and within it were stars, millions of stars, and something else. Gendo watched him step into it, and he turned.

"Where are you going?" said Gendo.

"My revenge is not finished," said Shinji. "Now that I am as the Angels are, I know the truth of their rage. They whispered the secret of the universe to me as I ascended to join them."

"What secret?"

Shinji smiled broadly. "Somewhere, there is a man with a typewriter."

He stepped into the void, and as it closed, Gendo saw, and he screamed, for within that void, there were Earths.

Infinite Earths.

* * *

When Shinji arrived at the first secure door to the labs, Ritsuko was already standing there waiting for him. He looked more haggard than he'd seen in years, almost like she used to in the old days that now seemed to distant, a memory buried under the gleaming magnificence of the Institute and Neo Tokyo. In fact, if it weren't for the long dark hair she had tied in a loose ponytail that was draped over her shoulder, he could have seen her just the same back in her old lab. The only thing missing was the cigarette.

"Ritsuko?" he said, rushing to her side. "What's wrong?"

"We can't talk here," she said, her voice low. "You need to see this yourself."

He was surprised by the lengths she was taking. She led him through the building and the above-ground facilities, down into the secure labs, and finally even deeper, down the elevator to the old cloning lab and Shinji's own private laboratory, what Asuka had jokingly nicknamed "The Fortress of Solitude", the name she'd given to his bedroom in the old apartment, so long ago.

"What's wrong?" he said.

Ritsuko was shaking visibly as she walked with him into the Terminal elevator. She didn't say anything, but hit the switch. When it reached the bottom, she shied to the back of the tiny space and hugged herself.

"I'm sorry, I can't. Kaji is with him."

Shinji touched her shoulder. "I don't understand."

"You will," she said, "Please. Go."

He blinked, and headed down the tunnel. Kaji was standing at the end of the tunnel, waiting for him. He had his cowl thrown back over his head but was in the full suit. If he'd pulled the mask over his face he would have disappeared, blended into the darkness and made it part of himself. His cloak swayed around him as he walked.

"We picked him up about two hours ago," said Kaji. "I brought him here. I thought it was best to keep him out of sight."

Shinji nodded. There was a figure sitting near Kaji's equipment on a simple folding chair. He wore a ragged black suit that was more gray than black, and long scraggly hair and a thick beard obscured his features. Kaji stopped and let Shinji cross the rest of the distance himself.

He froze. "It can't be. You're dead."

His father looked up at him. "Of course I am. I usually am. We have a poor survival rate."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not your father, boy. I'm his father. I've come to warn you. He's coming."

"Who's coming?" said Shinji.

Gendo looked him in the eye, and Shinji saw madness in him. His eyes were bloodshot and his lips dry, and he was as pale as a ghost. He smelled, and his hair was a rat's nest of tangles, dirt, and dust. He smirked quietly to himself, and then began sobbing.

"You are."

* * *

**_The Infinite Shinjis_**

The Forces of Evil

_Shinji Ikari, who has mastered the Riddle of Steel, called _The Great Devourer _and _The Absolute Enemy

_Iqarius, Primarch of the Second Legion, the _Crimson Vengeance  
…_Suzahara Toji_, Captain of the First Great Company, "The Berserkers"  
…_Aida Kensuke, _Chief Apothecary _of the _Crimson Vengeance, called _"The Good Doctor"_.  
…_the dying girl who waits in silent judgment_

_Asuka Langley-Shikinami, Queen of the Vampires_  
_…Mari Makinami, a vampiric thrall_  
_…Hikari Horaki, a vampiric thrall_

_Dr. Shinji Ikari, M.D._

The Forces of Good

_Shinji Ikari, last survivor of his universe_

_Shinji Ikari, _son of Kal El_ and the _Last Child of Krypton  
…_his wife, Asuka Langley Soryu-Ikari (M.S.), a Kryptonian-Human hybrid, six months pregnant_  
_…Ritsuko Akagi, mad scientist_  
_…Hikari Horaki, a Cyborg_  
_…Toji Suzahara, head of security_  
_…Ryoji Kaji, the Bat-Man_  
_…Dr. Rei Ikari, Ph.D, computer scientist_  
_…Kensuke Aida, computer scientist_

_Shinji Ikari, _son of Jor-El _and the _Last Child of Krypton  
_…his fiancee, Asuka Langley Soryu, Emissary of the Amazons_  
_…Toji Suzahara_, Green Lantern  
…_Rei Ayanami _and _Kaworu Nagisa, _Ascended Seeds of Life

_Shinji Ikari, _Master of Magnetism and the Mystic Arts  
…_Misato Katsuragi_, host of the symbiotic alien called _Venom_  
…_Rei Ayanami, _the Living Vampire  
…_Hikari Horaki, _Spider-Girl  
…_Toji Suzahara, _The Boy Who Can't be Smashed  
…_Kensuke Aida, _a ferrokinetic and technological savant  
_…Ritsuko Akagi, _a scientist and mutant  
…_Asuka von Doom_, a pyrokinetic of untold strength  
…_Mari Potts-Stark, _The Invincible Iron Maiden

_Shinji Ikari, Vampire Hunter_  
…_Rei Ayanami, a dhampir_  
_…his boom-stick_

_Shinji Ikari…_  
_…Asuka Soryu…_  
_…Rei Ayanami…_  
_…and Toji Suzahara, _professional paranormal eliminators

_**Allied Forces**_

Allies of Evil

_Megatron_ and his Decepticons  
…Starscream, his less-than-trustworthy second in command  
…Soundwave

_Megatron II, _leader of the Predacons.

_Ra'as Al Ghul and the League of Assassins_

Allies of Good

_Dr. Emmett L. Brown, Ph.D_

_Martin Seamus McFly, Sr. _

_Optimus Prime _and the Autobots

_Optimus Primal _and the crew of the Axalon

_Those damn yellow aliens_

_Gendo Ikari, who heralds the coming of the Absolute Enemy_

_**Unknown**_

_An ancient hate, from the dawn of time_

* * *

Evil beyond imagining threatens everything that is.

The battle for one boy's soul has begun.

* * *

There's not much you get from saving the world. For Shinji Ikari, what he got was a one bedroom apartment, a job in an office, and a whole host of bad memories. Some men look back on their teenage years with wistful remembrance or brutal regret. For Shinji, it was a mixture of both. He could go to bed each night knowing that he was a hero, a knight in shining armor who battled forces beyond human comprehension and saved the world. That is, until his head hit the pillow and a click of a chain chased light with darkness, and he was left alone to remember the ones who didn't make it. That was why his alarm clock and lamp made friends with a bottle of whisky, the holy trinity of the nightstand.

Tonight, as usual, he was lying awake, staring at the ceiling, when the phone rang. He sat up, perfectly alert, and pulled the chain for the light. He swung his legs out of bed and winced at how cold the carpet was. Later autumn was settling on the city and it was going to get cold again. He never remembered cold from his youth, only as an adult. He remembered warm festival days and holidays that were always the same, and how comforting they were, reminders that nothing changed. Now, every year the weather reminded him of the passing of time and all those days he would spend alone in the company of absent friends.

His hand fell on the phone and he saw her picture hanging beside it. He kept the first picture she ever gave him, one someone else took of her on the beach. That was the Misato he wanted to remember, not the one with the burn on her face and the blood matted in her hair. The handset of the phone creaked in his grasp.

"What?" he snapped.

"Shinji?"

He blinked. "Father?"

"Look," his father said, "I know-"

Shinji slammed the headset down so hard it nearly tore the cradle off the wall. He started back to bed when it rang again, and he choked it from the cradle.

"What?"

"Shinji," said Ritsuko.

Shinji sighed, his mouth shaking from the strain, and he frowned. He leaned on the wall. "Hello," he said.

"We need you to come in to the lab."

"Why?" said Shinji. "It's over. You promised me, it's over."

"It's not an angel," Ritsuko whispered, as if someone might overhear. "It's something else. I wouldn't let him call you if it wasn't an emergency. The truth is…" she trailed off. "Just come here. Please. Come home."

"I'm on my way," he sighed.

The truth is.

He squeezed the molding on the wall. He hated himself every time he spoke to Ritsuko. He hated himself but he could never hate her. It wasn't her fault she loved his father. It wasn't his fault that Mother, his real Mother, disappeared when he was too young to remember. It wasn't her fault that he betrayed Mother's memory by thinking of Ritsuko Akagi as his mother. It was his betrayal, not hers, and his fault. She was a good person. She was good to him.

He changed out of his pajamas slower than he wanted to, feeling the ache in his shoulder from the injury he took in the last battle. His left hand still shook when he grasped something too hard, and a jolt would make phantom pain run up his arm. He looked at the scars in his hands and rubbed them together, for his luck. He didn't cover them up with gloves. He needed them there as a reminder. He touched his fingers to the window before he left. They made a soft squeaking sound. Outside, lighting flashed and rain slashed.

He pulled up the hood of his jacket as he jogged to his car. A good job for life was his reward, and where he was Spartan with his quarters he was extravagant with his automobile. He'd been through three sports cars already. There was nothing wrong with them, he just sold them after a while, after he got tired. He sold them because, sooner or later, absent—mindedly, he'd jog to the wrong side, waiting for a phantom hand to unlock the door from within, sometimes even falling into the driver's seat, expecting the buxom Captain to be there waiting for him, gunning the engine, ready to taunt him with her erratic driving.

He started around the wrong side tonight. He'd start looking for a replacement tomorrow.

He didn't mind that he was soaked when he got in. The cold helped keep him awake as he navigated the streets of Tokyo-3, all right angles, all the same, a jigsaw puzzle city with no history to call its own. It was the dead of night and it was dark, and he almost got turned around a few times. He really was so much like her, it wasn't funny. Finally, he pulled up to a booth, flashed his badge, and a hazard-striped bar raised. He drove to the locks, the clamps fixed around his wheels, and he killed the engine while the car was dragged into the tram by an underground motor. The rain stopped and the car lurched diagonally downward, sawing into the earth.

He put his hands behind his head and closed his eyes, and fought hard against sleep. Now he felt tired. Figures.

It felt like an hour, but it could only have been a few minutes. The tram car pushed his vehicle out, he tipped the key to start up the turbines, and he started the slow drive across the floor of the Geofront to headquarters. It was sparser than it had been. The dream of building underground cities had been abandoned, and the mirrors were down, replaced with harsh lights. It was just a cave, now, with a glittering pyramid half patched with tarps and rusted metal, a derelict grave marker for mankind's hope for a better future. The future didn't better, it just got colder, part of the year.

His tires slipped in the mud a little bit, and he slowed down. He had to be careful. He finally pulled into the secure lot, which now stood open, and stopped diagonally across three spots. No one used them, so there was no point in pulling into a regular space. He jogged up to the door, pushed it open easily, and was in the cold halls of Nerv again. A waved of remembrance washed over him. At least they'd cleaned up the blood.

He put his hands in his pockets and shuddered as he walked towards the elevators. He still remembered the way after all these years, walking it by rote. In his minds eye, he saw Asuka running past him in her red undersuit, always red, her eyes wild with anticipation and determination. She was with Toji now. They tried it, they really did. Shinji had a habit of calling Misato's name at inopportune times. Saying sorry wasn't good enough to patch it up after. It never really was. He wasn't sorry. He never really was.

Try as he might, he couldn't help but see Rei, and Hikari. Hikari wasn't so lucky.

Wait, that was just a euphemism. She was dead, and it was his fault, because he let it happen. They both were. It was a good thing they built headquarters as a pyramid. It was a tomb.

He made it to the elevator, where he needed an actual key to go any further. He felt it lurch under his feet as it started up the shaft, and when he slid inside, it groaned a little, the doors squeaking. He leaned against the side wall, hit the button, and closed his eyes again. He didn't want to see in his mind's eye his younger self awkwardly standing in the elevator in a suit that clung to every part of his body with three girls whose suits clung to every part of their bodies, even if one of them was his sister.

He smiled a little. Some memories weren't so bad.

The doors opened, and a wave of familiar scents and a rush of hot air hit him. The cage was open and active, to his surprise, like the day he left it, if more cluttered. The empty cages of Units Zero and Three stood mute testament to their lost owners, the only markers they would ever have- Shinji had signed a hundred non-disclosure agreements, and the dead didn't have to sign. It was easy to sweep them away, put them up and forget about them. He wanted Hikari to have a marker at the Impact Memorial and they wouldn't even allow that. Misato was cremated and under a field somewhere with a number for a name.

He shuddered.

Unit One was in its cage. She'd been patched up, but the replacement armor over the arm and chest had never been lacquered. Just looking at it made his shoulder and chest burn. It overmatched him by three feet, always seeming to look down through the eyes of its beetled helmet. Experimentally, he ran his hand over the chest, touching it. It felt the same as it always did. He walked around the side, to see the power back on the back had been lifted up, and there were wires trailing to it. Someone was running it through the startup sequence.

His father was as quiet as usual. He'd shaved, and his hair wasn't black anymore but silver, and crowned his head; it had started thinning on top. Shinji looked at him reservedly, saying nothing. They both did that, father and son, so different yet so alike. It was Ritsuko broke the silence, touching his cheek to turn him around.

She kiss his forehead. "It's so good to see you again, Shinji."

He wanted to hug her and call her Mom, just one time, but didn't. He never did. Something wouldn't let him.

"What's wrong?" he sighed. "You wouldn't call me unless there was something wrong."

"Come with us," said Gendo.

He sighed, and walked deeper into the cage. He teared up a little when he saw the shuttered door to the girl's locker room, wiped at his nose, and kept walking.

Ritsuko took his arm. "You're soaked. When was the last time you had something to eat?"

"I had some ramen for dinner."

"That's not enough," Ritusko chided, wiping some of the water out of his hair. "I should get you fresh clothes."

Gendo stared at the floor. "Can we have a moment alone?"

Shinji swallowed. He walked with Gendo as Ritsuko stopped, folding her arms under her chest. Her mouth twisted into a frown, and they walked on.

"She's still beautiful," said Gendo to the air. "I wonder what your mother would look like, sometimes."

"I'm sure," said Shinji.

"I can't remember her face. When I think of 'my wife', I think of Ritsuko. Do you hate me for that?"

"No," Shinji said, honestly.

Gendo nodded. "It wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was!" Shinji snapped, rounding on him. "It was my fault! If I'd-"

Gendo stopped him with a look. "It was mine. I built them. I put children in them to pilot."

He looked into the air. "Fuyutsuki told me the crash was a blessing, that it was a chance for me to start over, but by the time I had to start over it was already too late."

"I don't care," said Shinji. "I don't want to go over this again, and over and over it. What do you want?"

Gendo stopped in his tracks. "I'm going to ask you to pilot again."

Shinji sputtered. "Damn you, I knew it, I-"

"Son," said Gendo.

"Oh please," said Shinji, "don't try that, I-"

"It's not an Angel. It might be something worse, and…"

Shinji looked at him long and hard. "And the truth is, I am Iron Man."

Gendo looked at the floor. "The MAGI chamber. Come on."

The walked the rest of the way in silence. The main interface with the MAGI was holographic, a spherical room with a podium in the center. It would respond to verbal commands and gestures, and it lit up when the walked inside. The door closed behind them with a hiss.

"Awaiting command."

"Play the file from this afternoon, please."

A profusion of data appeared in front of him. Shinji coudln't make much of it. He was a salaryman, not a scientist. He sighed.

"Just tell me what's going on."

Gendo coughed into his hand. "This morning, the old sensor system flared up. We picked up something in high orbit, outside the Van Allen belts, some kind of radiation. The profile is unlike anything we've ever seen before."

Shinji saw what was probably a radar screen, showing some kind of void or shape in space- it was huge, marked on the screen as eight kilometers in length, and looked artificial. It had a prow like an ancient galley, high and sharp, and the rear sections were built up into something that was a cross between a pipe organ and a castle.

"That was the first one," said Gendo. "It appeared, followed by two more and a number of smaller objects. They're currently on the far side of the planet, out of the light of the sun and moon. Their behavior since appearing suggests intelligence, or intelligent control."

"What do you want from me?"

"I want you go to up in Unit One and take a look."

"You want me to pilot a robot fighting suit into outer space. I haven't slept in three days."

Gendo looked at the floor. "Son, you're the only one who can."

"Let's get this over with," said Shinji.

Gendo nodded, and they walked out of the room together. Almost instinctively, he veered into the locker room. He wasn't surprised to find an undersuit waiting for him, sealed in plastic. He pulled the plastic apart, after worrying one of the seams with his teeth, and tore it open. The suit unfolded in his arms, and with a sigh, he started stripping off his wet clothes, using his undershirt to towel off the last moisture from the rain. He pulled the suit on, starting with the legs, then the arms, before he shrugged into the chest plate and hit the switch to compress it around his body. He was taller and a little thicker around the middle than he had been the last time he'd worn a suit like this. He felt ridiculous as he walked outside.

He blushed when Ritsuko saw him.

"Nothing I haven't seen before," she mused.

His blush deepened.

She smirked. "You're so easy… to…" she trailed off.

Ritsuko looked away with a choked sob.

"I want to go home," said Shinji. "I'll go look at your space rocks, and then it's not my problem anymore."

"Agreed," said Gendo. "I just want the feed to show the UN. They took all my cameras. We run on a shoestring."

"The empty bag the shoestring came in," Ritsuko sighed. "We used up the last string a month ago."

Shinji snickered at that, and winced.

He stood in front of Unit One, and she opened for him. The upper torso scissored forward, and lifted up as the arms folded back so he could slip into them like a jacket, while the legs split open. He got up into it, leaning on the hip plates, slipped his legs in, and shoved his arms behind him, winced as his shoulder cracked. When he wheeled them forward, the whole suit closed around him and hissed as it began pumping cold LCL around his body to cushion impacts and increase his synchronization with the system.

He felt three pulses, and then saw the outside world in a lower than normal resolution through the eyes of the Eva, transmitted directly into his own brain. He took a halting step forward, then another and another, until he was walking normally, suffused with the heady feeling of towering over his parents like children.

"How is it?" said Gendo.

"Fine," said Shinji, twisting. "The arm joints are a little stiff. The balance is odd."

"I made some modifications. Hopefuly you won't need them. Let's get you to the launch tube."

Shinji nodded, the suit grinding as it mimicked the motion, and he felt himself draw closer to it, the synchronization improving with familiarity. By the time he reached the launch pad, he was simply walking. He turned around, stepped into the clamps, and let the system seize him. He hated this part.

"Ready?" said Ritsuko, her voice chiming in his ear. He saw a feed of her at the controls.

"Yes," said Shinji. "I'll be right back."

"I know," said Ritsuko.

"If I…" he trailed off.

She looked right into the camera, and smiled.

"I love you, Mom," he whispered.

They launched him.

The jolt shoved him down, the suit grinding as it held him up. He looked up and saw the tube rushing by as he rocketed skyward, propelled by compressed air. The ride was surprisingly long and twisty. They must have been sending him through one of the auxiliary tubes, he thought absently as he fought one of the turns, trying to keep his empty stomach from boiling up around his chin. He waited for the critical moment when he saw the stars opening up and heard the patter of rain on the Eva's helmet to hit the boosters and punch it up into the sky.

The ground tilted lazily beneath him as he remembered how to work the attitude jets. He took a deep breath.

"Main boosters, max burn."

The Eva responded and he felt himself being pushed down as the Eva pushed up, thundering into the sky on a glowing plume of plasma. The rain slashed at him, blurring his vision, and he wished the damned thing had windshield wipers. It wasn't long, though, before he punched through the gray mass of the clouds, saw a flare of lightning to his left, and was above the weather, his sight finally clearing. The sky got darker and darker as he went up, until there were so many stars it seemed the sky was more light than inky black, except for the concentric pattern of voids in the night that he saw.

"Those are the objects," said Gendo.

"They're huge," said Shinji.

"Just get me a camera feed, and you're done. This is the last time."

A chill went through him. He was in outer space.

He'd seen it before. Six years ago, Asuka screamed.

Once he was out of the atmosphere he could dial back on the thrust, and relax a little, twitching the Eva's fingers. He aimed himself at the strange objects orbiting the Earth and waited for them to come into view. His breath caught. This he hadn't seen before.

The three largest of them looked like crosses between cities and ships, in outer space. They were dotted with burning fires on tall spires, and their sides bristled with guns so enormous a battleship could have fit down the bores. They gleamed in red and brass and sent a chill down his spine. The largest were accompanied by smaller, similar vessels, with many even smaller ones moving between them. Something about the middle one bothered him.

A copy of his Eva suit was attached to it, somehow, much larger than life, and ganglier, sickly-looking. Worse, it was crucified, bound to a red iron cross by thick nails driven through its palms. Blood oozed from its palms and trailed behind it in space as the ship moved. He swallowed.

"You getting this?"

"Yes," said Gendo. "Fall back. Fall back now."

"R-right," Shinji stammered, turning his legs and arms to push back with his thrusters, to regain the grasp of gravity.

A proximity warning appeared on his heads up display. He saw flares, like muzzle flares, and hundreds of small objects started streaking towards him, but not at him. He let the onboard computer focus on one, bring up a tighter view. It was hard to make out, but it was definitely a craft of some kind- a blend of a reentry pod from a rocket and some sort of church, spiraling through the void. It it was pushed by a rocket at its conical apex.

Something flew past him, much closer this time. The computer system scanned it, and identified it as an F-16, but the energy signature was wrong, and there was the obvious fact that F-16s did not fly in outer space. It lazily turned around him, and his radio crackled from a burst of static. The computer compensated, and translated.

A harsh, shrieking voice bellowed, "This is Starscream! I have identified our primary target!"

Shinji turned and hit the boosters to head back for the atmosphere.

A growling, snarling voice roared in reply to the other.

"This is Megatron! Decepticons, _attack_!"

* * *

Toji slept fitfully, tossing and turning in bed, grabbing at his pillow. Asuka rolled over beside him and kicked at the back of his legs with her heels, snarling something in German. He let out an exasperated sigh and opened his eyes, to see the angry red glow of the alarm clock staring back at him. It was four in the morning, and his shift started at six, putting him in that magic zone where he had just enough sleep to be groggy without being rested, and not enough time to get back to sleep before the alarm went off. As he slid his legs off the bed and sat up, Asuka made a contented noise and immediately pulled all the sheets and the blanket onto herself, wrapping her body up into a cocoon. As she turned onto her back, she started snoring loudly.

Toji got himself up and wandered into the kitchen. He had a coffee pot set on a timer to start brewing before he woke, but turned it on early and pushed the kitchen door closed. They didn't have much, and his uniform for the next day was neat and pressed, hanging on a hook by the door. Between Asuka's graduate school and Toji's rotating shifts, they didn't see much of each other anymore He was always a little surprised that she remained in Japan at all after what happened, but according to her, she had nothing in Germany, either.

He sat down at the table and turned on his tablet, and went to his homepage. His email icon was blinking but he ignored it, almost letting the tablet drop out of his hands. There was a radar image of some sort of big blotch and a headline screaming about a city-sized object in Earth orbit. He looked at the time stamp and saw that it was dated only a few minutes ago. Toji quickly skimmed the rest of the article, got up, and headed for the nightstand, where he kept his phone. It was missing.

He dropped down on his hands and knees by the bed and looked under it, then under the nightstand itself. Finally, he found the phone tucked against the wall in the corner. It had vibrated off the table, and probably woken him up, without his realizing. He saw the icon for missed calls, checked the number, and called in to the station.

A mechanized voice greet him. "All lines are currently busy-"

He stood up, looked at the phone, and snapped it closed.

Leaning over the bed, he nudged Asuka's shoulder with the heel of his hand.

She made an annoyed noise and rolled away from him. He pushed harder, until she rolled on to her back, her eyes flicking open, the lashes sticking. She fluttered her eyes until they came a part and yawned.

"What?"

"I have to go to work."

"So? You always have to…" she trailed off, catching sight of the clock. "Did you get called in?"

"They called me, yeah. There's this… I don't know."

She shook her head, rubbing at her eyes. "What?"

He plucked the remote control from the foot of the bed and turned on the television. A very prim anchorwoman was reading from a script, and her hands were visibly shaking, her knuckles white where they curled on the desk. Beside her was the image from the article on his homepage. Toji turned the television up.

"…the first object appeared approximately two hours ago. Government and United Nations officials have reserved comment, but the American space agency has confirmed that the object was not detected until it reached an orbital distance of some one hundred thousand miles, halfway between the Earth and the Moon. NASA officials are claiming that the object and the smaller ones that joined it have both made corrective maneuvers and decreased in speed, suggesting intelligent control. The government has issued a state of emergency, and is urging citizens not to panic…"

He turned it off.

"Gott," Asuka whispered, clutching the sheets to her chest.

"I said, I have to go."

"You can't just leave me here!"

He looked at her, and her face twisted into a scowl, one he knew all too well, the one she made when a little too much emotion slipped out and she started hating herself for it.

"Fine," she snapped, "Go."

"I'm taking you with me."

"No," she said, sharply.

"Yes. I'm not just leaving you here."

He rushed into the kitchen, stripped out of his pajamas, and started pulling on his uniform. After he'd button his shirt and tucked it in, he went to the armoire he kept locked near the door and clipped on his badge and pulled his gunbelt around his waist. By the time he walked back into the bedroom, Asuka had pulled on a pair of jeans and a loose shirt, and was slipping into her shoes. She had her phone in her hand.

"Shinji isn't answering me."

It was like the room went five degrees colder, all at once. Toji looked anywhere but at her scowl.

"Try his family."

He went to put on his shoes, and when he returned to the bedroom-slash-living-room, she was shaking, staring at the screen of her phone. She snapped it closed and stuffed it in her pocket.

"No answer."

Toji nodded gravely. "What do you want to do?"

"I'm going with you, aren't I?"

Toji sighed, and closed his eyes. He was glad his gun was on his belt; he was half afraid she'd shoot him for what he said next. "Do they still have your suit?"

"My what?"

"Your Eva."

"Yes," she said, softly. "I don't know if… they're not answering me."

"I can get you there. It's on the way."

She chewed her lip as he did up his tie, slipped the clip into place, and pulled on his cap. "Let's go."

She nodded, and followed him out of the apartment. He jogged down the stairs, and she kept close pace behind him, almost touching his back. He stopped at the bottom of the stairs, where the mailboxes stood next to the complex door. Someone had left an old boombox sitting on the carpet, under the mailboxes. Toji knelt to pick it up, but it wouldn't budge, like it was glued to the floor.

"Wow," said Asuka. "I haven't seen one of those in years."

"Come on," said Toji, pulling her by the hand.

He jogged down the steps with his hand on his gun. The parking lot was crowded with apartment tenants, looking up at the sky. Toji weaved between them, pulling Asuka by the hand, until she dug in her heels and forced him to stop. She stared upwards, her eyes wide, her hair drifting from side to side in as light breeze. Toji took a deep breath and let his own gaze slide towards the heaven, and his jaw dropped open. There was a shadow on the Moon.

The first falling star was just a tiny flash, on the horizon. The next one was bigger and clearer, and burned brighter, lasting longer. A sick feeling flooded through Toji, like sludge building up in a drain. The streaking lights grew larger and longer, and he clearly saw one trailing vapor behind it as it angled into the city, and a moment after it crossed behind the outline of the downtown skyscrapers, there was a rippling boom and the ground shuddered under his feet. There were already more of them coming down.

Toji heard something, a strange, mechanical sound, a sort of five-note pulse that rolled around his skull and settled in his bones. Instinctively, he grabbed Asuka and pulled her around behind him. The front of their apartment complex was unmade, the front wall sliding outwards and collapsing into so much debris. Something moved inside of it, a huge humanoid form trailing streamers of dust as it shouldered a chunk of wall out of its way and stepped to its full height on the parking lot. It took a step out onto the pavement, its square foot coming down with a loud boom. Toji looked back up at the thing as it hunched forward to look at him. It was some kind of robot, blue, with an absurdly huge tape deck in its chest. Its face-plate vibrated as it spoke in a rumbling, mechanical monotone.

"SECONDARY TARGET ACQUIRED. DECEPTICONS, CONVERGE ON MY POSITION."

Toji ran. Asuka ran with him. The giant machine didn't pursue. It reached up and depressed a massive switch on its shoulder, and the front of its chest tipped forward and expelled a massive block of metal that unfolded in the air and landed as some sort of quadrupedal robot, an alien mockery of a jaguar that peeled out a snarl that sounded like a low-fidelity recording and charged, metal claws sparking on the pavement. He pulled Asuka with him rolled over the hood of a car, and was pushed a good five feet when the creature collided with it and started scrabbling over it, its claws digging deep rents in the sheet metal. He almost reached for his gun, thought better of it, and tried to get up onto his feet.

The robot-cat stopped and looked up into the air, ears spinning as if it heard something. Toji's phone started playing AC/DC's Highway to Hell. So did Asuka's, and a dozen others buried in the rubble.

Unit One tumbled out of the sky, trailing vapor behind it, and landed in a crouch with a loud thump. It stood up, joints grinding, raised its hands, and swept the robot-cat off the hood of the car with a too-bright blast of its hand repulsors. The helmet clanked and unfolded, revealing Shinji's face inside.

"Get up!" he shouted, "Get the hell out of here!"

Toji didn't need to be told twice. He was on his feet, pulling Asuka up. She was bleeding from her leg and had a cut on her forehead. He put his arm around her under her shoulders and hauled her along with him, half carrying her for the street. He spared a glance over his shoulder. The robot-cat and Shinji grappled, rolling over the already pulverized remains of the car it had torn up. The giant was already launching something else from its chest. They had to get to Toji's car, and they had to do it fast.

He shoved the keys in Asuka's hand. She looked at him, dazed.

"What are you doing?"

"Get out of here. I'm going back to help."

"That's crazy!"

"Our friends and neighbors are back there. I can't just leave. Go, Asuka!"

She looked at him, eyes wide, and accepted the keys, then jogged to his car. She pulled the door open and looked at him a final, sad time.

"I really do love you," she said.

"Go!" Toji shouted, turning back to the din of battle. Asuka started the car, and the gears snarled as she pulled out in a hurry, tires squealing. Something rocketed over Toji's head, some kind of metal bird. In a rage, he pulled his sidearm and fired at it wildly, probably missing, and ignored him, winding between the buildings after Asuka as she fled. He turned back to the apartments, putting his hand over his mouth against the dust.

Something was wrong. A fog clung to the ground, some kind of heavy, cloying mist, and it rolled forward, up to his knees, then up to his shoulders, until all he could see were flashes and the sound of some strange alien weapon firing. He ducked, worried about a stray shot, some tiny part of his mind insulted that everyone was ignoring him now.

There was someone in the fog. He stopped, holding his gun in the low ready position, aimed at the pavement. A figured darted in his peripheral vision, and then moved closer. He saw her and aimed his gun, but his hands started to shake and he couldn't focus on the sights anymore. Hikari stalked out of the fog, putting one foot in front of the other and swaying like a runway model. Her hair was down and she was older, taller and filled out, but it was her and he'd know her anywhere. His gun drooped down to the ground.

"H-how?"

She smiled, and her eyes locked on his. Her irises were red, deep, dark red, the color of freshly spilled arterial blood, and they were intoxicating. His gun clattered on the ground and he couldn't feel himself dropping it. His arms fell to his sides, and a kind of peace, a contentment came over him. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. She was so beautiful, more real than real, the idealized Hikari Horaki who only lived in Toji's mind, sauntering up to him in her school uniform- now to small, the hem of her skirt perilously high on her thighs, her crisply pressed white shirt wrinkled, as if from sleep, and pulled down off one shoulder. Her soft, cool hands cupped his cheek, and she leaned closed to him, resting her head on hist chest. She smelled like thick, flowery perfume and something else, a cloying, metallic smell.

"Her or me," she whispered, "Who do you love more?"

His mouth formed the words of his own accord. "You. Always you," he said in a quiet monotone.

Hikari traced her fingers down his neck, watching his Adam's apple bob as he spoke, and sighed. "I know. I'm sorry."

He barely felt her fangs in his neck.

* * *

The wheel creaked under her fingers, but Asuka didn't hear it as she nudged the car a little to the left and then swung hard to the right, jamming on the gas to power int he turn, the back end slipping a little bit. There was nothing behind her but chaos and and screaming fear tore through her, rising from her stomach to force its way through her eyes as tears. She blinked them away and tried to focus on the road. She wanted to spin the car around and head back and drag Toji away, wanted to do something, wanted to make him leave when he didn't need to stay. Shinji was there, and whatever the hell was going on was her problem. It was over, she was done, she quit.

-Help me, Asuka!-

-I can't! The Commander-

-It's violating my mind!-

She shook her head as she swerved, the wheel jerking under her fingers. She bit her lip and made another sharp turn, the wrong way up a one way street. Every time the headlights flashed in the lenses of a parked car, she shuddered a little, and her heart tried to skip a beat. A shadow passed over the car, and she heard a kind of screech, high pitched and mechanical sounding, like it was a recording. The screech went high pitched, like whatever it was going into a dive.

There was a loud crash, the tinkling of shattering glass, and the roof dented in beside her. A burnished metal beak broke through the metal, squealing against it, and then drew back, pulling the roof with it. She swerved, the impact driving the car into a spin, and futilely jammed the brakes. The thing crawled down the windshield, metal talons biting through the glass, and began tearing into the hood like a raptor driving its sharp beak into its prey. It looked up at her with glassy yellow eyes, and then neatly bit down into the hood and came back up with a tangle of wires and tubes. The car sputtered and died.

She heard a tiny voice whisper, this way.

Asuka kicked the door open, got onto her feet, and sprinted. The mechanical bird climbed up on top of the car and watched her, its wings slowly moving up and down. It didn't give chase. She slowed to a jog, looking around in confusion. A dense fog was rolling between the building, pooling around her ankles. It grew thicker and heavier still, until the buildings were barely outlines. Something moved in the mist, a tall shape that drew up beside her. She stumbled to the side and threw her hand over her mouth, stifling a cry.

She was tall, taller than Asuka, and moved with a languid, catlike grace. Coppery red hair streamed down past her waist, and her skin was as pale as milk. She wore a long white gown that flowed around her legs as she walked. Her arms rose, and her hands settled on Asuka's shoulders. They were cold, as if she'd spent a long, frigid night outside. Goosepimples rose up on Asuka's arms and legs.

"M-mother?" she stammered.

The woman stroked her hair, and she felt calm, her terror fading into reassurance.

"No," the woman said softly, "I'm not your mother."

Asuka gasped as she was pulled into an embrace, and to her surprise, hugged the red-headed woman back, leaning into her.

"I keep looking, but I never find her," the woman said. "Come with me, and we'll find her together. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Asuka nodded into her chest. She looked up.

Her eyes. Her eyes were red, like blood, the whites perfectly white, like polished stone. Fangs curled her lips into a frown, and her breath stank, coppery, of blood. Asuka tried to push away from her, but she was too strong, her arms like iron, and her body no longer soft but like stone, and cold like stone. She panicked and pushed back, beating into the woman's chest, but was dragged along anyway.

"It won't be so bad," she mused, picking Asuka up off her feet. "Once I turn you, you'll thank me."

Asuka rammed her knee into the woman's stomach, but managed only to send a lance of pain running up her leg. She gasped and thrashed, trying to break loose. The woman, the thing, picked Asuka up over her shoulder in a fireman's carry, softly singing a German lullaby to herself as she walked through the fog.

Shinji landed a stone's throw ahead, the lights on his armor making him a mass of glowing mist. He stood up and the suit whirred, and as he came forward Asuka struggled again, trying to break free. Shinji turned and raised his hand, opening up his fingers to expose the emitter on his palm.

"Put her down," he boomed through the suit's speakers.

"You won't hurt me," the thing purred, taking a step forward. "They never hurt me."

"Try me," said Shinji.

"Okay," the thing hissed, "I'll put her down."

Asuka screamed as the creature grabbed her around the waist, spun her around, and lifted her over her head. There as a whine and a heavy thump as Shinji blasted it in the chest. The world spun crazily, and the wind blew out of Asuka's lungs as he caught her, dipping to reduce the impact as she hit the hard metal skin of his suit. He lowered her to the ground and she had to lean on him, pain lancing up her ribs. He looked around.

In the mist, the creature cackled.

"You should have let me keep her. She'd be better off."

"Are you okay?"

She nodded, out of breath.

His helmet unfolded, exposing his face. "Let's get out of here."

"Where's Toji?"

He chewed his lip. "Asuka…"

"Where is he?" she snarled, pushing back from him.

"He…" Shinji trailed off. "He didn't make it."

She was surprised by how she reacted, some tiny part of her mind stunned by it. She swayed on her feet a little, and made a pained, struggling cry that made Shinji wince, the servos in his suit whirring as it mimicked his motion. He took a step towards her with his hand out.

"Asuka, I'm sorry, I… he was my friend, too."

Asuka just stared at him. Her mouth fell open, and snapped closed with a click.

"We have to go," said Shinji.

"The car's totaled. That thing ripped the engine out."

He looked around, visibly confused. He lifted his hand to scratch at his head, thought better of it, and shuffled on his feet, a ton of steel and composites and artificial muscles standing there awkwardly like a schoolboy, his gauntlet whirring as he opened and closed the fingers on his right hand.

Asuka looked at him. "What the hell is going on?"

"I don't-"

An alarm went off in his suit and his helmet snapped closed. She felt it, a kind of build up, like the funny almost-feeling of hairs standing up from the presence of a strong electrical current. The fog blasted away, pooling around a central point in the street. Light flashed, a profusion of colors that hurt her eyes and made her turn away, covering her face with her arms. She stumbled as thunder rolled over her, so loud it hurt, and Shinji grabbed her to keep her on her feet. A sudden cold washed over her skin, and she could hear a faint crackling as a thin layer of frost formed on everything around her, and her next breath came out as steam in the chill air.

Where there'd been an empty space in the street, there now stood three hulking figures, overmatching Shinji's Eva suit by nearly a meter. Hunched forward, they were in heavy suits of powered armor with massive helmets, except for the central figure. Racks of trophies- helmets, polished skulls, and strange tokens, stood from their backs on polished spines. The plates of their armor, some strange material that wasn't metal or ceramic, was lacquered a deep red and trimmed with dull brass. The central figure stomped forward, lifting heavy gloves that made a terrible rasping sound as long blades slid down the backs of its thick fingers and locked into place, moving like claws. Unlike the two behind it, it wasn't wearing a heavy, snouted helmet.

It was Toji.

Except, it wasn't Toji. His features had been expanded, remade to inhuman proportions, something almost equine, a mockery of himself. One side of his face was a ragged, badly stitched scar, running up into a bald spot on his head. She barely knew him, and didn't know him at all when he cried in a guttural snarl, "Take them!"

"Asuka," Shinji shouted as his helmet snapped shut, "Run!"

She didn't have a choice. Not-Toji's claws cracked and sparked as they were wreathed in red lightning, flashing and casting feverish shadows across the pavement. He took a swipe at Shinji and the claws crackled across his AT-Field, but the energy spread, pressing out across it, warping it, and it drove Shinji backwards. The other two stepped forward, one carrying a gigantic, boxy gun fed from a belt of shells as big as her fist, the other carrying a huge hammer in one hand and a sword in the other, both aglow with witchfire. Shinji dodged another stroke of Not-Toji's claws, barely getting out of the way. He blasted back with his gauntlet emitters, but the shots just rocked the armored giants backwards, barely slowing them.

Asuka bolted. She ran, without even really picking a direction, just to run. The world was going crazy, nothing made any sense, and beneath it all was the ringing truth trying to claw its way to the font of her mind. Toji was dead, or worse. She skidded to a stop, nearly falling, when a black sedan slid to a stop in front of her, and the door fell open. Ritsuko was inside, gesturing for her.

Asuka didn't argue. She climbed inside, and Ritsuko dropped a plastic bag on her lap. Asuka took one look at it, and knew what it was.

"Hell no!" Asuka screamed, throwing it in the back seat.

"You have any better ideas?"

"I told you, never again!"

"Shinji can't handle this by himself. We need you, Asuka."

She looked at Ritsuko, ground her teeth, and climbed over the seat into the back of the sedan. She stripped her clothes off with practiced ease from multiple trips like this, and easily slipped into her undersuit, whipping her head to get her hair out of the collar before she hit the compression switch. She sat up on the seat, meeting Ritsuko's gaze in the rear view mirror.

"You ready?"

Asuka nodded.

The car rolled to a stop, and she got out, and pressed the switch on her other wrist. She waited, forcing herself to breathe steadily. She felt her old self, the Pilot, crawling back up from the depths of her mind. Her fists clenched, and she looked up to see the Unit Two streaking overhead, turn in a tight circle, and drop down, landing in a crouch on the pavement. It stood up and scissored open. As if she'd just left it, she grabbed the hip pivots, jumped, and twisted herself into place, slipping her arms inside to bring the suit into a closed position. She winced at the LCL circulating around her body.

"Computer," she said, her voice wavering, "Spin the reactor up to maximum and give me all available power to primary weapons."

Her HUD flickered to life with readouts from the emitters on her gauntlets, the rocket launchers on her shoulders, the wrist-mounted machine guns, and the guided missile system mounted on her back. Unit One was the test type, sleeker and faster than it needed to be. As Asuka stomped in a slow circle and headed back for Shinji, she bore down on her enemies in a war machine.

* * *

Shinji was beginning to realize he had a problem. He was used to tearing his way through fights. His main tactic had always been deflecting the enemy's attack with his AT-Field and closing to use his gauntlet emitters or a palette rifle, sometimes the progressive blades he could deploy from his wrists. In times of trouble, he could rely on some deep reserve, something inside himself that drove him to a frenzy. He tore some of the angels apart with his bare hands. Now, he was slowly losing ground to these things.

The beast that wore Toji's face circled him, holding his claws out to the side. Energy scintillated over them, claws wreathed in lightning. The others moved around him a slow circle, the one bearing down on him with its enormous belt-fed gun while the other hefted a hammer with a head as big of his chest; it looked like it was made out of bones and barbed wire, flexing around some sort of creature, and he could feel it crackling with energy. His onboard computer was going crazy trying to identify the energy signature.

"Toji?" he said.

Not-Toji sneered at him, taking a thudding step forward. "Silence, worm."

"Yeah, that's not really an option."

Shinji charged, hoping to shoulder past and get enough clearance to take off. For his all his bulk, Not-Toji moved with astonishing speed and grace, ducking to one side, and raked Shinji's back with his claws. They didn't skim over the AT-Field but instead merged with it, the energy feeding back to make a great rippling boom, and Shinji was knocked sideways. He crashed into a parked car, rolled over it, and hit a wall. Not-Toji followed after him, sparks flying as his claws sliced through the wreckage like butter and he parted it to pass through. Shinji forced his way to his feet. A red damage indicator appeared in his HUD.

"Toji," said Shinji, "What the hell happened to you?"

Not-Toji stopped. "I am the eightfold path."

"Computer," said Shinji. "All available power to repulsors."

He stood up, aimed both hands at Not-Toji, and loosed a full strength blast. The energy met his raised claws and there was a resounding boom that knocked them both back, Toji half snarling, half screaming in pain and fury. Shinji hit him again, forcing him back, and skirted to the side. He made it past Toji just in time to take a blow from the hammer to his flank. The big hammerhead swirled around, the surface rippling and moving like a living thing, and it crashed through his field and sent him spinning around. He landed on all fours, saw a red profusion of damage warnings running up a wireframe schematic of the suit, and was gripped by panic. The giant with the slung gun brought it to bear on him, and the gigantic bolt cycled with great clack-a-clack.

He managed to get out of the way of the first shots, the deafening blasts muffled by the suit's onboard systems, and got across the street. He crouched, put his field up to maximum, and weathered the hits, the shells exploding as the struck his barrier, peppering his surroundings with shrapnel that shredded steel and blew out all the windows. The computer, helpfully, informed him that he was under assault from 70mm mass reactive shells of unknown construction.

His heart nearly skipped a beat as a blip appeared on his screen. Unit Two was online, and the tracker put Asuka on fast approach, moving at ground level. He got up, keeping his field pointed towards the oncoming fire, and ran towards Toji and the hammer-bearer. He couldn't take many more of those shells and maintain his field. Asuka's face appeared on his heads up display, a twisted mask of fury.

"You killed Toji!" she screamed at no one in particular, sounding so much like her old self it made Shinji shiver in his suit.

She came around the corner, stomping along with a full weapons array mounted on her back. She put her arms out and used tiny repulsor bursts to steady herself as the missile pods on Unit Two's crimson shoulders stood up, the protective sheathing popped off, and she fired streaking unguided projectiles right at him. He ducked, just in time for them to skim past him, dropping his field so that they sailed downrange and slammed into the gunner. The fire ceased and the huge gun slammed to the ground. Asuka put one foot forward to pur herself in a heavy bracing position and the guided missile on her back lifted up, twisted to aim, and fired. It roared away from her, rocking her back, and streaked towards the now disarmed armored giant. There was an ungodly cracking sound as it planted in the thing's chest and then, it exploded.

The backwash almost rolled Shinji off his feet. He had to raise his field to hold back the wave of pressure and shrapnel, dropping to one knee. The armored giant was in ruins, crashed through a random apartment block. Shinji got up just in time to dodge Toji's berserk charge, a howl of rage preceding him, so loud he could hear it through the suit. Asuka answered him with both barrels on her wrist guns, peppering with gunfire that pattered off his armor like hail and did virtually nothing to slow him down. He made a ponderous turn, swinging his head from Shinji to Asuka as if unsure which one to kill first.

"The female is mine."

"Asuka!" Shinji screamed, "Look out!"

Toji charged at her with sickening speed while the hammer-bearer came down on Shinji. He had to roll out of the way of a downstroke. The hammer shrieked like a living thing when it buried itself in the pavement, and the asphalt turned red hot all around it, the head sinking into it like soft clay. The armored giant tugged it out and spun it around, and Shinji had to hit his boot jets to get out of the way, almost slamming into the florist's shop behind him. He tried to keep an eye on Asuka, who charged at Toji like a madwoman, screaming. She charged, jumped, and put both gauntlets in Toji's face before hitting him with a blast form her emitters. He swiped her away with his claws, lightning clashing when they met her field. A warning popped up on his screen, and he saw the damage to Asuka's suit. Long, charred tracks had been gored out of her side, and her now empty rocket pod tumbled through the air and clanged on the ground.

Shinji ducked inside the hammer swing and put both hands on the haft to arrest its movement. Even from within the arc, he was pushed back several feet, his boots digging furrows in the ground. The head of the hammer snapped at him, bony claws reaching out from within its mass to slash through the air at him. He fired a point blank blast straight into the haft, but it held. The armored giant grabbed him with its free hand and yanked him bodily through the air, slamming him down into the ground. He rolled out of the way just in time to avoid a smashing stroke into the ground.

He got up in time to see Toji duck behind Asuka. Her weapons had all run dry, and she was firing wild, almost random blasts, and missing. He ducked behind her and with a flick of his claw, cut through the cables on the back of her legs. She sank to her knees, grinding the servos in her joints as she tried to get back up. Toji rumbled, and Shinji realized he was laughing as he walked behind her and casually flicked her onto her side. He rolled with a blast from her repulsors, and put his enormous foot on her chest, pinning her to the ground. He could hear her armor cracking, and a wireframe of her suit appeared in his HUD, red lines of damage spreading through it like veins. Toji raised both of his claws, then froze, his face twisting as he composed himself, his deep scar turning white. His claws retracted, and he grabbed Asuka's suit by the throat and hauled her up off the ground.

"I have her. Bring us back. Order an apothecary to my position to retrieve the geneseed of Brother Eizak."

A readout appeared on Shinji's screen- some kind of energy buildup. Shinji ran towards him, dodging a hammer blow, and seized the huge pauldron of his armor.

The world went mad. Colors flashed in his eyes until he pressed them shut, and he heard voices in his mind. He felt something, some sort of presence, even as he was assaulted with whispers offering hope and salvation or jibes and mockery. Voices urged him to die, told him that Asuka was already dead, and he should grant her the final mercy; cackling whispers told him of the futility of life, reminded him of his many faliures. He thought he heard Misato somewhere far away, calling him, calling him home.

Then it was over.

He fell backwards onto decking- it wasn't metal, it was the same material as Toji's armor. For a bare second, he thought he died, and he was in hell. He was lying on some sort of pad in a vast space, surrounded by more armored giants, although these were smaller, clad in the same hues of blood and brass. A hundred heavy guns, their bores as big as fists, bore down on him, and he froze. The hangar was so big there was mist clinging around the roof, and there was something moving in the mist. Off to his left, there were a number of enormous, boxy flying craft with stubby wings, proportioned for these things rather than humans. Smaller creatures that he took to be ordinary human beings scurried this way and that in purple robes, their faces hidden, always looking away from the giants. Besides their guns, they were armed with blades, swords, spears, and what appeared to be weaponized chainsaws, as long as a man is tall. Shinji got up on one knee.

One of them approached him. Over his armor, he wore a plain white robe, flecked with a rusty colored substance. On his left gauntlet, he wore an elaborate, deadly looking contraption of needles and blades, and mechanical arms rose up over his shoulders from the pack on his back. In place of eyes, he had flat lenses, stitched right into his face and held in place by livid scars. It took Shinji a moment to recognize him.

"Kensuke?" Shinji croaked.

"So," Not-Kensuke sneered. "This one delivers himself to us."

Toji boomed laugher, holding Asuka's limp form in his gauntlet. "Take this thing out of my sight."

A pair of the armored giants seized her by the arms and carried her off, and Shinji got up to follow, until Toji's claws slid out, ready to ignite with their strange, feverish energy.

"You sit down," he boomed.

Shinji willed his helmet open, and looked around. The air was cold, and tasted of dried blood. He swallowed. The armored figures lowered their weapons and all moved to the side, almost in unison. On the far end of the hangar, a door opened, tall and wide enough to admit a bus through it. Shinji's jaw dropped. A silver robot, the tallest he'd seen yet, ducked under the door and strode into the hanger. It was the biggest he'd seen yet, and he was instantly terrified of it. Machine though it was, it was alive, its shining silver face twisted in a cruel sneer beneath an angular, domed helmet. Its right arm sported a huge black cannon that buzzed with barely contained energy.

It wasn't alone. At first, Shinji thought he was seeing himself, but the design of this armored suit, with its horned helm and black and purple livery, was more angular, more feral, like a suit of knightly armor somehow converted to a mobile suit. The wearer gathered awe around him like a cloak. Everyone and everything in the room seemed to focus on the single figure, striding towards Shinji. In his hand, he carried a long sword, the blade made out of translucent red material. He slung it on his back, sheathing it in a fur-wrapped scabbard, and reached up to remove his helmet. The giant looked down at him in contempt, and Shinji was looking back up into a scarred, long-haired, older mirror of his own face.

"Who-who are you?"

The giant smiled, coldly. "I am Iquarius. We are the Crimson Vengeance!"

Like a thunderstorm, the armored giants around him slammed their fists into their chests and repeated the name, like a chant.

Another figure moved through the door. He was the mirror image of Shinji himself, virtually identical, but younger, and dressed in a simple robe. His skin was chalk white, and his hair was silver, almost like Kaworu's had been, his eyes a deep crimson. Shinji saw into those eyes, and was instantly terrified, his guts rising up into his throat. He had to force down a mouthful of vomit. His doppleganger walked up to him and stood in front of him, looking down into his face.

"There is nothing unique about this one. Kill him."

Shinji grimaced, and his helmet snapped closed. He jumped out of the way just in time to avoid a slash from Toji's crimson claws, rolled, and fired his repulsors at the titan in the mockery of his own armor. The giant Shinji simply waved the bolts away, amused. He looked at Shinji, as if delivering the barest iota of concentration, and he flew through the air, his armor suddenly coated in a thin layer of frost. He was pinned to the ground by an invisible force.

"Asuka," he croaked.

His father answered him. "Shinji, I'm sorry," he panted. He sounded hurt. "I didn't want to do this. Computer, activate the Thanatos Protocol."

"The what?"

A synthesized female voice spoke in his ear. "Thanatos Protocol engaged. Spatial distortion drive online. Diverting power from subsystems. Multiversal slipstream jump in three seconds."

"Dad!" Shinji screamed, "What's happening?"

"Goodby, Shinji. I'm so sorry."

"Two."

"_Dad_!"

"One."

"_DAD_!"

"Jump."

* * *

Asuka woke up with her face pressed into a cold floor that was somewhere between stone and metal, cold and stinking of grease. It felt like slate when she ran her fingers over it. She groaned. A lance of pain ran up her side and her leg, and her head was pounding. Someone gently put soft arms around her and lifted her into a sitting position. Her vision was blurred, and she had to blink a few times before she could see.

It was like a hall of mirrors. She was everywhere. She started screaming.

"No, no," the one holding her whispered, pressing Asuka's head into her chest. "Don't, they'll punish us."

She finally composed herself, sucking in a series of ragged breaths. She was surrounded by dopplegangers or clones or something, half a dozen identical copies of herself. Well, not identical. There were differences. The one sitting across from her was leaning on the wall, her head lolling dully to one side. Her right eye was a scar- it had been sew shut vertically, the sutures running from her forehead down her cheek. Another one, sitting next to her, stared into space; her arm ended in a bandaged stump. Some of them were in sun dresses, others in plug suits.

"What is this place?" she croaked. "Am I in hell?"

The one holding her rested her chin on Asuka's forehead. "Maybe, I don't know."

"They killed Toji. I think they killed Shinji. What the hell is happening?"

She looked up at the one cradling her. She had worry lines around her mouth, and crows feet at the corner of her eyes. Her hair was streaked with gray. She looked distant and vacant at the memory of Shinji's name. She leaned into the wall, holding Asuka, and stifled a sob.

"I lived with Shinji for thirty-six years. After he killed the Mass Production series, he proposed to me on the spot," she said wistfully, gazing at nothing. "Misato threatened to kill Commander Ikari if he didn't sign the papers. We had two girls and a boy. The oldest looked like you. Like me."

Asuka shivered. "I don't understand, what-"

"They didn't take anything from me, because I'm too old. The others, though, they're spare parts. He won't let them kill us- the big one, the one they call the Primarch. He won't let them hurt Asukas, but he makes his doctors cut things away. He's trying to fix her."

"Who?" said Asuka.

"His Asuka. I heard him screaming at that thing that has Kensuke's face. His voice, it… it hurts. It hurts the air when he screams, it's like reality is afraid of him."

Asuka shivered.

Old Asuka went on. "They killed Shinji. He was my husband. He was the light of my life. I knew it that night he kissed me the first time." She snorted in amusement. "I said I was bored, I wanted to try it. He put his hands my hips and we bumped our noses together and started giggling, and the way he made me laugh just made it all go away. That Toji monster cut off his head."

Asuka choked up. "Gott, they-"

"My children," she sobbed quietly to herself, "They took my children."

"Where?"

She shook her head. Tears slid down her chin and landed on Asuka's hair. "I don't know. They won't tell me."

The one with the missing eye turned towards the bars at the end of their cage, then slithered away on her rear, skittering with her arms and legs, trying to pull the one-armed one with her. A shadow fell over them, and Asuka slowly turned to look.

Shinji was standing at the bars. He was in an immaculate white suit, his patent leather shoes polished to a high mirror shine. He'd grown his hair out and kept it in a loose ponytail, and he had on a pair of gloves, white cotton gloves like his father wore. Exactly like his father wore. He put on hand in his pocket, and sneered. His eyes were cruel, like someone else's eyes, and fixed right on her.

"So, we have a new arrival."

He nodded at someone out of sight.

"Bring her. Let's see what she can do for us."

* * *

Waking to the sound of a monotone beeping, Shinji sat up, shaken by the shuddering servos in his armor. He shook his head and winced when the helmet didn't move with him. He tried to will the helmet open, but it refused to budge, a refusal tone buzzing in his ears. He had to struggle onto his feet and make exaggerated motions to keep his balance. He looked around and realized his HUD was reduced to a blinking cursor in the lower right hand corner of his vision.

"Great," he mumbled. "Computer, status report."

A profusion of characters slid off his screen as the system went wild and performed a memory dump before the usual icons appeared one by one in his peripheral sight. The status display was a Christmas tree of red and yellow lights, blinking icons directing him in particular to his side, left leg, and gauntlet. He'd taken a pounding from those monsters, and now he was… he wasn't sure where he was. He tried to open his helmet again, and again was refused.

"Computer? Where am I?"

"Atmospheric conditions not suited to supporting human life. Internal air filters engaged. Current location, unknown. Time, unknown. Gravity equal to earth standard, atmospheric pressure within tolerable limits."

"Great," he muttered, "I'm not even on Earth. Thanks, Dad."

He had arrived in some sort of a cave, by the looks of it. He took a few steps forward, stopping to probe the wall beside him. It curved up gently, and was made of some sort of brown-black resin, so hard he couldn't peel any of it back. His boots clicked on the floor as he walked, stopping now and then to wrangle himself before he lost his balance and fell over; the suit wasn't compensating for him anymore.

"Computer, tell me about the jump drive."

"The prototype spatial distortion drive uses the energy output of a super solenoid engine to create a miniature singularity, permitting the construction of a temporary theoretical space that acts as a bridge between universes."

"Can I get home?"

"The coordinates for the origin point of the first jump have been stored. Executing the jump is not recommended until the drive has spun down."

"Wonderful," said Shinji. "I'm stuck here."

He saw light at the end of the tunnel, and the walls began to spread out and widen. He walked into a much larger structure, a cavern of enormous size that could only be the Geofront. It began to sink in. He was in another universe.

The cavern roof, high over his head, was striped with long veins of some kind of mineral that cast off its own light, or else some sort of bioluminescent lichen. His suit compensated, bringing up the light levels in his vision so that he could see, while adding in a thermal overlay. The world was cold- it was almost freezing. He walked on, his boots crunching on thin layers of resin, spread over the cavern floor. He looked around, and found himself in a world silent save for the sound of his own breathing and the movement of his suit. For all the vast size of the Geofront, he felt as though walls were crushing down on him and started heading for the nearest structure.

If there were no people here now, there had been at one time. The ruins of the pyramid dominated the vast floor of the cavern. The top had been sheared off, exposing in the internal metal superstructure, jutting up like bones from a decaying carcass. The whole surface was covered in thick layers of resin, shining in the dim light. He headed for it; there would at least be shelter, maybe a defensible position.

He had to force open the doors. None of his override codes were working, although there was power. The suit detected sulfur and he and saw thin trails of steam leaking from some of the vents in the halls. The geothermal power system must have been working, although not very well, as the lights flickered and half of them were out. Some of the doors were cut off by thick strands of resin layered over one another, like a spiderweb. He was beginning to get a little nervous.

He found the access stairs to the cage level and headed down, leaning on the wall to keep from toppling down. He considered jumping from landing to landing, but from the looks of things, his flight systems were down and trying to control the boosters manually was a spectacularly bad idea. It took him the better part of an hour to hobble down to the cages. He pushed the doors open and stepped in, and froze.

The thing in the first cage wasn't like any Eva he'd ever seen. It was a hundred, maybe a hundred and fifty meters tall, slumped against the side wall of the cage. He couldn't understand it; looking at it made him dizzy. It had to violate the square-cube rule, for one thing. Looking at it, Shinji couldn't help but wonder how the hell it managed to maintain its shape. The armor superficially resembled his, like they were distant cousins, but under it was the remains of some sort of creature- a massive skeleton and bits of decayed, gray flesh, like whale blubber. The suit readout said the bones were made of an unknown composite material laced with carbon fiber and iron.

The chest was what bothered him. The creature's chest armor was torn off and its ribs bowed out, as if something had torn free from its body and escaped. Further ahead, there was a bridge leading to another cage, but it was damaged. At some point, the cages had been flooded with LCL, but it had drained, and it was a long drop to the floor below. Without his boosters or his AT-Field, he wouldn't survive it, even in the suit. He had no choice but to back up and continue on.

He had to smash through some of the resin to get down to the command center. Everything inside was dark. There were claw marks on the floor, deep gouges that ran together in odd patterns, and what looked like faded, dried blood on some of the consoles. One of the chairs had been melted into slag by some kind of acid. He walked around the room. Everything was cold and dead, frost layered over the keyboards and warning lights. He was about to turn and leave when he saw a blinking LED in one of the corners.

He touched the console and it hummed to life.

"Computer, give me a connection and tell me what's on here."

"Unremarkable text files and garbled Evangelion operating data. There is a video file. Would you like me to play it?"

"Let's see it."

His breath caught. Misato appeared on his screen. Behind her, the command center was in a shambles. There were bodies. He tried not to look at them, but he recognized Maya. Misato was carrying the camera, pointing it at her face. She slumped down against one of the consoles, breathing hard.

"I don't know if anyone is left," she gasped, "I don't know if anyone will find this. This is my fault. I should have burned it. It got Ritsuko first, she… oh God, it killed her being born… a few hours, all the eggs…"

She coughed, and blood dribbled down over her lips.

"Can't kill them, they just keep coming… doesn't matter, dead already. Destroy this place, stop them, can't let them out, I-"

She made a pained grunt, and her eyes went wide as she grabbed at her chest. The camera fell and spun across the floor. Her legs kicked and she let out a gurgling scream, followed by a sickening crunching sound. Shinji closed his eyes and willed the video away, breaking the connection with the console. He took a few steps away and raised his hand to scrub at his eyes before he stopped himself, staring at his armored gauntlet.

"What the hell happened here?" he whispered.

A blip appeared on his HUD, and he whirled. Something was moving, but he couldn't see. He caught a glimpse of something dark drop from the ceiling, land with a crunch, and skitter behind a console. He moved around beside it, looking for the apparition, but saw nothing. Tensing, he waited, listening while the suit scanned for sounds and movement. He turned, and he saw it.

Hunched on one of the consoles was a man-sized creature, vaguely insectoid. Its bunched, too-thin body was all black chitin, and a long tail swept behind it, curbing into a long, barbed hook. Its head was elongated, its skull smooth and glossy black, ending in an oversized mouth. It caught him in its eyeless gaze, hissed, and leapt at him. Instinctively, he raised his gauntlet and blasted it back. It crunched against one of the consoles, smashed open like an insect, and thick yellow gore ran out of the cracks in its exoskeleton, hissing and smoking as it melted into the floor.

A hundred more movement blips appeared on his screen.

"Computer," he said, breathless. "Emergency jump."

"A jump is not recommended until-"

"Override!" he shouted as more of the creatures came at him in a wave. "Just do it!"

"Destination?"

"Anywhere but here!"

* * *

The strategium of the Shikinami was heated to uncomfortable levels by burning braziers. The structure was vast, large enough to hold hundreds of Astartes on polished black floors in concentric circles around the central platform, dominated by massive table made of highly polished wood from some nameless planet that the Legion took from a force of the Eldar xenos a thousand years before. The table was perfectly round, having no head, but all eyes were directed to the massive presence of the Primarch, turned away from the others in contemplation, head bowed, massive hands linked behind his back over the rich fur cloak of a wolf of Fenris, a gift from the Russ himself, now stained with dried gore, blackened runes charred into its surface. Beneath it he wore a heavy cloak of purple wool over a black body glove.

The others gathered in conference around the table behind him. Towering over them all was Megatron, his lieutenant, Starscream, milling about at the foot of the dais. The giant machine's silvery carapace had been etched with runes, and around his neck he wore on a chain of spun gold a medallion bearing the halved skull of the Cult Mechanicus, fringed in points that formed an eight pointed star. Between the two giants, the others seemed small. There was nothing remarkable about Doctor Ikari save for his presence, and the way that Asuka Shikinami clung to his shoulder, sniffing at his hair and breathing her hot, coppery breath into his ear, her thralls Hikari and Mari standing behind her. Doctor Ikari meticulously sharpened a long, thin knife, called a Liston knife, with a whestone, remaining silent while the others boomed.

"My Deceptions have crippled the human infrastructure," Megatron boom, shaking a massive fist. "We have already begun converting their energy reserves into energon cubes. My Predacon subordinates report that the humans have taken well to being herded into working for their new masters."

Doctor Ikari sat up. "I examined their version of Asuka. I haven't taken anything from her yet, but she's as rude as the others."

The Primarch's equerry, Suzahara captain of the First Great Company, the Berserkers, was a giant overshadowed only by his lord and master, even in his purple ceremonial robes. His words were twisted into sneering, frothing barks by the scar on his face. "We have already begun the selection. The worthy of their male children will bolster our ranks, to replace our fallen brothers. These mortals fared no better in resisting us than their predecessors, but we lost nearly nine full squads of battle-brothers in the assault."

One among them drew their gaze when he spoke softly, one among them could bring a Primarch close to something called fear. Silver-haired, the pale image of a god cast in marble, Shinji Ikari spoke in a bare whisper, his words radiating power that made the air around him ache.

"He escaped me," he said quietly. "You let him escape me."

"The drive technology he used to evade us is unprecedented," said Megatron. "Even the Cybertonian Space Bridge pales in comparison."

"You would be outclassed by 'apes'," Doctor Ikari said idly, his eyes on the edge of his knife.

Megatron loomed over him, the sound of his fusion canon spinning up rolling through the chamber like thumber. "You dare address mighty Megatron in that tone, you sniveling primate?"

Doctor Ikari looked at him and gave him a wan smile. "I find your rudeness less than endearing."

"Enough", the Primarch boomed, his voice a quiet thunderclap that slapped all the other voices out of the air. "I want this world ready to be left unattended in three days, Suzahara. See to it."

Suzahara slaped his chest, and retreated.

"Our next target," the Primarch rumbled, quietly.

"I am open to suggestions," said God-Shinji, leaning his head on his fist. "They will all fall. The order matters little to me."

Doctor Ikari leaned forward. "I have been going over the information you provided. The probes have returned a great deal of data. I believe if we begin moving further afield from our collective experience, we will begin encountering subjects that will better suit the Primarch's needs."

Iquarius turned slowly, fixing his mighty gaze on Doctor Ikari, who flinched and pushed his glasses up his nose. "One of them… there is a universe where many of the Children are altered humans, that the locals call 'mutants'. Their Asuka is an exceptionally powerful one, able to generate nearly limitless energy from an extra-dimensional source."

"Limitless energy," Megatron rumbled, touching his fingers to his chin with a soft click.

Doctor Ikari ignored him.

"There are others. One is a human-alien hybrid, again of immense power."

"Mutants," the Primarch said quietly, his words settling on the room like ice. "Mutants and xenos."

"It may be the only way."

"I know which universes you mean," said God-Shinji. "We are not ready."

"I beg to differ," the Primarch boomed.

God-Shinji looked at him flatly. "The Kryptonian's universes would be able to resist us. Our grand purpose is not slaved to your personal ambitions, Primarch, always remember that. Yet, the other, I think, would provide better sport for us all, and their division would lead to their downfall… but something occludes my senses, some sort of intrusion into their universe. There is something… a hammer. Powerful sorcery stands against us."

"Then it will be countered with sorcery of our own," said the Primarch. "I am prepared to do all that is necessary."

Doctor Ikari managed to huff.

"What of you, my dear?" he said, turning to the vampire on his shoulder.

She drew back her lips in a grin, baring her fangs. "One throat is much the same as another to me."

"And you?" said God-Shinji, turning to Megatron.

"You had me at 'infinite energy'."

"Then it is decided," said the Primarch. "All of you, leave me."

He waited until he was alone. God-Shinji, the one who had come to him and first whispered of other worlds and the hopes they contained, was the last. He gave the Primarch a withering look, a weighing look, perhaps the only being in the universe that could, besides the False Emperor. He too left, leaving him alone in his chamber. He strode out, pulling open a pair of doors of hammered iron, and closed them behind him. He was alone in his meditation chamber, the roof open to the stars, the void held back by a thin layer of armorglass. Within, the only light was from the stars and the Moon and the false Earth, a small circle in the distance, and the glow from the stasis tube.

Within the stasis field, lit from its glow and wreathed in light like an etheric being, Asuka lay on a bier, her glorious copper hair flowered around her head. Sometime soon, her heart would beat for the last time, the final time, and she would be lost for him forever. So he kept her trapped here, imprisoned between ticks of the clock until his army of monsters brought him what he needed to bring her back, to hear her voice again. He would not fail her again. Every free moment he spent with her, praying silently to gods he despised to save her, cursing the whims of fate for his birth as a living god, unable to have the one thing he truly wished, for all his strength.

The girl lay in silence, unable to draw another breath, and left him alone in failure and grief.

* * *

Shinji's eyes blinked open.

"Great," he said, "Now, I must be dead."

He sat up. He'd been pulled out of his suit, somehow, and was lying on a strange bed made out of some kind of foam, just big enough for him to fit on it. The foam pad rested on a lintel of pure white stone, polished to a high shine, and the walls matched it. There was no window, and the light came from everywhere at once, with no apparent source, and cast no shadows, which made him feel a little uneasy when he put his bare feet on the cold floor. He was dressed in a simple garment that amounted to a very long white shirt, made out of a soft material that wasn't any cloth he'd ever felt before. But for its softness, it reminded him of metal. He too a few paces towards the door, the only other feature in the room besides the bed. When he stepped away from it, the bed itself sank into the floor, gradually sinking until it slid below floor level and a slab of stone covered it and rose up until it was flush with the floor, absolutely seamless. He ran his bare foot over it, and couldn't tell it had been there at all.

Maybe he really was in heaven. In which case, he'd walk through the door, and Misato would be standing there in her yellow shirt and her cutoff shorts, a little tipsy, ready to fall on him just like she had that night a million years ago, when he gave her his heart. When he went through the door, though, he was confronted by a long, gently curving hallway, exactly the same as the room where he'd woken up, but for the dimensions. The ceiling was much higher, and it went on so far the gentle curve obscured the end, if there was one, in both directions. After he turned to look, he turned back and saw the door to the room was gone. Typical.

He walked for a while, having nothing better to do. There wasn't a bathroom, either. The floor sloped up a little, or else he was just dizzy from fatigue. He felt like he'd been sleeping for days, but still felt a hazy edge of tiredness around all his senses, hanging there and taunting him back to sleep. He sort of hoped he'd just end up in another featureless bedroom so he could lie down, and if he was lucky, never wake up. It was beginning to sink in on him what he'd seen. He'd gone from a fitful sleep before a day of make-work to the end of the world and the death of everyone in a few hours. It was like one of his nightmares of Third Impact come to life. Now, this place made him wonder if he wasn't dreaming after all.

The walls spread away from him at last and the ceiling arched even higher, into some kind of dome. The gently curving walls ran off in either direction, apparently forever, or else the full circle of their curve was so immense he couldn't see the sides. What he saw then made him sink to his knees, wincing as he hit the hard floor. He stared in dull uncomprehension, unable to fully grasp what lay before him. There was a tree.

Or rather, he had seen imitations of trees, temporary earthly approximations of what a tree was, sculpted crudely from wood and leaf, pale mockeries of what stood before him. The tree was a thousand miles high if it was an inch, somehow so close and so far that his mind struggled to comprehend its position at all. Its bark was gleaming silver and its leaves were gold, veined in blood. It went on forever into the sky, stretching into an infinity so that if he traced the branches, he ended up back at the beginning, staring at where they emerged from the shining trunk. The leaves were alive with light, the whole thing creaking and gently groaning as it swayed in an invisible breeze.

He forced himself to his feet. Through the branches and the endless, interlocking leaves he saw glimpses of the sky beyond, but there was no sky. It wasn't like looking into a void into darkness, it was like looking into pure, distilled nothingness without pattern or meaning, like going blind. He had to tear his eyes away from it, fearing he'd just spend the rest of his days staring at it. He focused on the trunk as he moved forward, rubbing at the sides of his head.

"Hello?" he called. "Is anyone here?"

Something stood in front of the tree, a tall glass dome about the size of a person. He moved towards it, focusing on it, and froze. Within the dome was a replica of the tree, not just a replica but an exact, perfect replica. Even the delicate swaying of the branches was the same. He walked around it and around it, until he saw. One of the branches was withering, the silvery bark turning tarnished, the veins of red to decaying ichor, the shining curling on itself and rotting into gossamer strands of dead brown. The disease was spreading, moving from leaf to leaf, and the whole branch was shuddering. Above him, he heard the tree itself groan as the diseased branch swayed. He put his hand on the glass, and a wave of immense sadness rolled through him. He put both hands on it, staring into it, and a tear slid down his cheek. He felt a presence behind him, and wheeled.

Standing before the tree were three yellow aliens.

They looked at each other, and at him.

"I have many miles to go before I rest," said the first alien.

"But I have promises to keep," said the second alien.

"He is the one," said the third alien.

Shinji rushed towards them. "What the hell is going on? Who are you? Where am I? What is this thing?"

One of the aliens gestured up at the tree, curling delicate fingers. "Do we need to explain?"

"Yggdrasil," said Shinji, staring up. "From Norse Mythology."

"The world ash is a myth," said the second alien. "This is _reality_, and reality is dying."

"How?"

"It is being murdered," said the third alien.

"By who?"

They stared at him in silence for a time. "By you."

He looked at them, his hands curling into fists, and shook with rage. "I didn't have anything to do with this! I was minding my own business! I was living my life! It was over, it was done, I was free!"

The aliens were unimpressed by his display. "It is never over. The Last Conflict has begun, and unless Shinji Ikari is stopped, the whole of creation will wither and die."

"In time he will find the core world," said the second alien. "He has nothing but time."

"Core world?" said Shinji.

The aliens looked at each other. They walked past him, ringing the glass dome, and placed their hands upon it. Shinji followed them, hanging back. They stared into it, speaking to the air, not really to him.

"In the beginning there was one," said the first alien, "and the one became many."

Shinji scratched his head.

The second alien spoke. "In a moment of supreme despair, Shinji Ikari created Instrumentality."

The third alien traced an invisible figure on the glass. "The Instrumentality is an aleph, a point which contains all other points, a single branching core from which any place and anywhen can be accessed."

The first alien spoke again. "When the aleph came into being, reality forever changed. An infinite array of Shinji Ikaris were born, lived their lives, all permutations on the original, all variations on a theme."

"In one world," said the second alien, "the fugue produced a bitter note, a monster who discovered darkness within himself, a creeping hate that whispered to his being and led him down a bleak path. He took what did not belong to him and gazed upon the might of the Tree, and was broken by it."

"Now," said the third alien, "he would undo all, to remake the aleph itself and recast the world in his image."

The aliens turned in unison. "This cannot be allowed to happen. The Tree must be preserved at all costs. He cannot be allowed to escape."

The third alien faced him. "Imagine a world dying as you have seen, every world, everything that will ever be, being tortured into oblivion together."

"What do I do?" said Shinji. "How can I stop those things?"

"You will not be alone," said the first alien.

"Not all of you are doomed to evil," said the second alien.

"You will travel the branching infinity of reality," said the third alien, "and you will assemble the greatest team of heroes ever gathered, so mighty they can be brought together only once, and together you will overcome the final enemy."

"My suit-"

"Has been repaired. We will give you what you need."

Shinji clutched his head. "Who are you?"

"We are the last line of defense," said the first alien. "It is our mandate to protect the Tree. That is all you need know."

There was a mighty rumble, and the entire tree swayed, the trunk shaking to its roots, the tremor rolling under his feet. Shinji nearly fell, stumbling to the side, and the aliens looked up in concern. He stared into the tree, and could swear he heard a tiny voice, whispering.

"_Kimochi warui_."

* * *

You have been reading…

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

Chapter One: One Night, On Earth

_After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter._

* * *

Martin Seamus McFly, at this time not yet having appended the Senior to his name, stood in the driveway of his parent's home in Lyon Estates, a subdivision in Hill Valley, California, in the year 1985, having recently arrived from a point in space, not far from the Hill Valley Courthouse and its historical clock, and from a point in time thirty years in the past, having made that jump in a DeLorean coupe modified with a great deal of gubbins and artifacts of science, not least among them the flux capacitor, the invention of a certain local eccentric by the name of Dr. Emmet L. Brown. The very same man who was now pulling into his driveway, in the very same car. Sort of. It still disoriented him a little to remember seeing himself, in that car, driving into a flash of light and vanishing, the double memory of the event giving him a strange sense of deja-vu.

The Doc pushed open the gull-wing door on the DeLorean, parked jaggedly in the driveway, and rushed up to Marty in a striking confusion of clothing, what looked like a plastic jacket over a bizarrely patterned shirt, a pair of glasses on his head that appeared to be a solid piece of metal with earpieces and a cutout for his nose. Marty sensed immediately that there was something deeply wrong. Brown always had a kind of bubbly amusement to him, a sense of wide-eyed wonder that permeated everything he did, no matter how dire the situation seemed. He took Marty by the arm.

"Doc? What's wrong?"

"I've just come back from the future. This is bad, Marty. There's something wrong with the future!"

Marty blinked, and followed the Doc to the DeLorean.

"Quickly, get in. We may not have much time."

"Doc," Marty said flatly, "you have a time machine."

He gave Marty a worried look. That was enough to prompt him to pull open the gull-wing and slip inside, almost sitting on a pile of newspapers. He pulled them out from under him as he flopped in the seat. At first, he thought he was seeing himself, but that wasn't possible. The paper was dated 2015.

"Martin McFly junior? Arrested?"

"It gets worse," said the Doc. "I went into the future to see what would happen to Hill Valley in the year 2015, but I arrived just in time to see your son getting arrested."

"Doc," said Marty, "I thought you said I shouldn't know too much about the future…"

"I don't think that's possible anymore," the Doc said, pulling the door closed as he slipped into the seat.

Marty hurriedly did the same, flopping the papers on his lap. "Doc, give me a straight answer here."

Brown looked at him as he turned over the DeLorean's engine and the car coughed to life. "I went into the future several times. First, I had the car hover converted-"

"What converted?"

Brown shook his head. "Listen. I went back several times, to install the hover conversion and the fusion drive, and to gather the data we would need to change your future and prevent that," he tapped the newspaper with his gloved finger, "from ever happening, but something changed."

"Changed? Did you change the future?"

"I'd have to change the past to do that, and I've secluded myself since I started making the trips."

He backed out onto the road, the car lurching as he put it in gear. Doc was never good on the clutch.

"We're going back. You need to see it."

"See what?"

"I may have gone insane."

"May?" said Marty. "Doc, you don't have road to get up to eighty-eight."

He reached down beside the shift and pulled a lever, and the car lurched, and unevenly began to rise into the air, tilting from side to side. Marty's eyes flew wide and he grabbed the side of the seat to steady himself, staring out the window as the car lifted up. Doc swung the wheel around and the car made a tight u-turn in the air, and he floored it. Marty fell back in the seat as the DeLorean rocketed forward, and a bright nimbus of light formed around her nose. He pressed his eyes tightly shut.

When he opened them, the car was still flying, skimming low over a beach. Rain pattered on the roof, and lighting flashed in the distance. Doc tilted the wheel and brought the car down, gradually bringing it to a stop on oddly clean white sand. Marty immediately threw the door open and jumped out, almost spilling the papers.

"Doc," he said quietly, "I thought you said-"

"Yes, that the time machine travels through time, not space. There isn't supposed to be a beach here."

Marty took a few crunching steps across the sand, and froze. The ocean water was red, as red as blood, lapping up on the sand in thick waves. The sun was occluded by red-tinged clouds, a storm that went on forever, from horizon to horizon in every direction. Except for the quiet whisper of the soft rains, there was absolutely no sound other than the gentle lapping of the waves.

"Where are we?"

"Hill Valley," said Doc Brown. "What matters is when, when are we."

"Did you travel to the end of the world or something?"

"I think I may have," said the Doc, "but look at the time circuits."

Marty turned back and ducked under the gull-wing, and his jaw dropped. "That can't be right."

"It's right. Today's date is August 12, 2011."

Marty stood up. "But you said you'd been to 2015-"

"I have," said Brown, shouldering him aside. "I went back, and it was like this. As far as I can tell, something happened a few days ago that caused…" he threw his arms wide, "this to happen, but the date keeps moving. It walked itself back from 2015, 2014, like the event is falling backwards through time."

He pulled up a newspaper and held it out for Marty to read. "It has something to do with this."

Marty curled his fingers around the newsprint and skimmed the headlines. The paper was from the year 2000, but looked new. It should have been; as far as he was concerned, it hadn't been printed yet. Worldwide disaster. Coastal tsunamis. Earthquakes, sudden rise in sea levels, massive explosion in Antarctica.

They were calling it Second Impact.


	2. The Calm Before the Storm

_Previously on_

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

**Shinji** Ikari, pilot of Mobile Suit Evangelion Unit 1 awoke to a living nightmare. His world was invaded, its people put to the sword, and the skies set aflame by an army of darkness led by... himself.

Outgunned, outnumber, and trapped aboard the hellish Astartes Battle Barge _Shikinami_, the flagship of the **Crimson Vengeance**, the Legiones Astartes Second Legion led by the Primarch **Iquarius **and his sinister allies, Shinji was forced to flee when his suit's onboard computer triggered an experimental hyperspace jump drive that carried him out of his native universe...

...and into a hostile realm dominated by monstrous aliens that overran the world and destroyed Nerv. Again forced to flee, he jumped without first supplying a destination and found himself in the strange, otherworldly realm of the **Yellow Aliens** and their Great Atrium that houses Yggdrasil, the World Tree. The Aliens charged Shinji with a vital mission: Gather an army of heroes and defeat **The Adversary**, the alternate version of himself who started the war and now threatens to unravel all of space and time in his mad quest to achieve his sinister ends, whatever they may be.

Meanwhile, **Emmett Brown** and **Marty McFly** found their universe thrown into chaos as a terrifying event in their future began cascading backwards through time, threatening to consume them as the entire multiverse begins to skew towards a single disaster- Third Impact.

**Asuka,** a native of Iron Shinji's universe, was unable to escape and fell into the sinister clutches of the Primarch, whose mad goal requires him to collect Asukas from across the multiverse... and he has a particular interest in _her._

__We turn now, briefly, to another world, that went another way, where Shinji and Asuka and Rei did not champion their planet against the unknowable might of the Angels, but turned to more earthly pursuits... only for the otherworldly to find them anyway.

* * *

Asuka plucked her cigarette from her lips and breathed out a long streamer of smoke, leaning back in her chair. She had a very nice chair, much nicer than the one she'd been stuck with when this entire enterprise started. Her office still didn't have any walls, but the waist-level partitions that surrounded her desk had a certain charm all their own. She took a peculiar pleasure in pretending she couldn't see or hear Hikari when she was in her office. At least, she usually did. She sat up as Hikari chased a confidently striding visitor in a sharp tweed suit through the lobby-slash-garage of their little establishment.

"Doctor Soryu!" she called, clutching a clipboard to her chest. "He insisted, I-"

Asuka waved her off, and gestured for her guest to enter. He took a seat, appraising her as she appraised him. She hadn't changed out of her coveralls yet. She was used to the smell of the slime on her shoulder, and barely noticed it. She got up and offered her guest a short bow, then gestured with a pack of cigarettes in her hand. He waved her off.

She could tell this guy was trouble. He was wearing gloves in July, for one thing. White gloves, like he was some kind of military man, or maybe someone's butler. No tie, though, which struck her as odd. He had a neatly trimmed beard lining his jaw but no moustache, and he wore his sunglasses indoors. He handed her a card, and she took it without reading it, or taking her feet off her desk.

He looked at her blankly, presumably expecting her to take note of who he was.

"Gendo Ikari. Environmental Protection Agency."

"Ikari?" Asuka said, blowing another streamer of smoke into the air.

He ignored her. "I represent the Tokyo-3 office of the Agency, the Third Branch. I'd like to know what it is you do here."

She shrugged. "Watch television."

He stared at her flatly. She sighed. Bureaucrats.

"My team and I are professional paranormal eliminators."

"What is that, exactly?"

"We track, capture, and contain paranormal entities."

"I see," he said, a skeptical edge tinging his voice. "What do these activities entail?"

"We shoot 'em with these laser things, stick them in boxes, and put them in a bigger box downstairs."

"What sort of box?"

She sighed. "It's all very complicated. There's lasers. It's a custom containment system for paranormal energy designed by my colleagues and myself."

She stubbed out her cigarette. "Mostly myself."

"I see," said Gendo, looking at the slime trail across her shoulder. "I've heard some disturbing reports."

"Such as?"

"From your neighbors. Unexplained noises, smells, substances," he stared at her uniform hard now. "I'm here to assess any potential harm your activities may represent to the environment."

Asuka snorted. "Our activities? Have you looked outside? I haven't seen the moon in my entire life."

Gendo's eyes narrowed. "I'd like to see your equipment. My understanding is that you're drawing a considerable amount of electrical power."

"I don't think that would be a good idea," said Asuka. "There's a lot of science, it's all very complicated."

He leaned forward, his chair creaking. "Listen to me very carefully, _Doctor_. I am not a man to be trifled with. I will see your equipment. Today."

Asuka sighed. "I'm afraid that's impossible."

"Why not?"

She smirked a little harder than she should have. She should have just taken him to the basement, there was nothing he would make anything out of anyway. Once she started, though, she could never stop, no matter how many times it got her in hot water.

"You didn't say the magic word."

"And what is the magic word?"

"Please," said Asuka, her voice thick with mock surprise.

Gendo surged to his feet. "If you don't take me to inspect your operation, I'll come back with a court order."

She was up almost before he finished speaking. "You go get a court order. I'll sue your ass for wrongful prosecution. While I'm at it, I'll sue your ass for bad parenting. Shinji cries at night, you know."

He looked at her incredulously. "How do you know that?"

She smirked. "You should go now."

He stomped out of her office, kicking the little swinging door out of the way. "This isn't over, Soryu. I'll be back."

She watched him go, folding her arms under her chest. Hikari swept behind him, looking over her shoulder until he walked out through the open garage door at the front of the firehouse. She looked at Asuka in a panic.

"You shouldn't have done that!" she said in a hush, hugging herself.

Hikari had a problem with authority figures.

Asuka shook her head. "Relax. I'm going to go make sure the stooges don't burn the building down."

She pulled out her key, opened the door, and danced down the old metal stairs into the basement. The containment system, which looked like nothing so much as an ominous circuit breaker panel of remarkable size embedded into the wall, was humming along just fine. Her colleagues, though, looked less than fine. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs.

Rei was stuffing a pastry in her mouth. She took a large bite, chewed it wetly, and swallowed, her red eyes settled on Asuka. She was used to her colleague's albinism, her red eyes and platinum blonde hair. Her weird behavior was a perpetual trial. Shinji was sitting on a crate, staring into the floor. He looked up at her and his eyes betrayed him. She could tell when there was something spooking him. Other than the spooks, that was. She sighed.

"Well?"

Toji gave her a little nod, glancing at Rei.

"Tell her about the Twinkie."

* * *

Asuka blinked her eyes open, and immediately pressed them closed. She recognized the haze of anesthetic, dulling her senses and filling her mouth with cotton. The last thing she remembered was being dragged out of a cage full of mostly identical duplicates of herself. She hoped it was a nightmare, but when she opened her eyes, she knew it wasn't. Shinji looked down at her.

"She's awake."

She winced as something enormous moved beside him. A figure in hulking, clanking armor, his companion was bareheaded, his face a mocker of Kensuke Aida, expanded to almost equine proportions. The two made an unlikely pair, Shinji in his white suit and the Kensuke-thing towering over him in white armor that hissed and shivered as it moved wit him, like a living thing. A spidery contraption reached over his shoulders from where it clung on his back, and he'd removed his gauntlets, one of which was covered in needles, drills, and spinning blades. His bare hands were enormous, as big as her head. Kensuke stared at her through blank lenses sutured right into his skull in place of his glasses.

"I see. Thralls!"

"Wait," a soft voice said.

Asuka cringed as the fanged thing -she didn't want to call it a vampire- sauntered up behind Shinji, draping her arms over his shoulders. She did look different- she was taller than Asuka and her hair was a different shade. She felt a wave of revulsion when she realized she'd mistaken that thing for her Mama. She bit her lip, trembling on the cold table. She didn't bother testing the straps holding her down. All she could do was clench her fists and wiggle her toes, hoping they hadn't cut anything off.

The vampire breathed hard into the white-suited Shinji's ear, tugging at the straps of his white apron. "She's useless to the Primarch. Let me have her."

"She is his," Kensuke boomed, "to do with as he will, _witch_."

The vampire wasn't intimidated. She stretched to her full height, rising a few inches off the ground without any means of support, and her back popped as she stretched. "Try me, stooge."

"Enough," Shinji said quietly.

He tugged on her hair and she gave a small yelp and retreated to his side. She melded to his side, though he seemed disinterested in her, barely noticing her attention at all.

"I thought we agreed not to play in public," she purred, sliding her arm around his chest.

He pushed her away. "No one is playing, my dear. We are guests here. There will be others for you."

She sniffed at his throat. "I want you."

"Not yet," he said, smirking. "There are some parts of my humanity I'm not quite willing to surrender."

He picked up a tray of surgical instruments and turned, the thing clinging to his side keeping pace with him, whispering his ear. He ran his hand down her back, and Asuka turned away, pressing her eyes tightly closed, and shuddered.

"Disgusting," Kensuke mused, slipping his heavy gloves back on.

Two hunched men in plain purple robes sidled up to the table and undid her straps. Neither of them met her gaze, as they kept their faces hidden within deep cowls, only their chins visible. She thought of pushing them out of the way and making a run for it, but she glanced at the lethal, hulking way Kensuke moved and the weapon he had, a gigantic pistol clipped to his waist, and thought better of it. She turned out to be too weak to do much more than stand and shuffle along the floor, the robed men tightly gripping her arms.

She looked around the room, and immediately wished she hadn't.

The table she'd been on wasn't the only one. There were dozens of them, and most were much, much larger, sized for the giants in powered armor. She saw things floating in great tubes filled with preservative fluids, organs and tissues turned strangely pale from lack of blood. The place had a sepulchral air despite the white walls and polished floors and smelled of cleaning fluids and blood and the icy tang of steel. It was a hospital, she knew, but one no patient was meant to ever leave. Her stomach heaved, and she had to struggle to contain her bile until she was outside.

The hallway wasn't much better. The air was chill and stank of vile smells and putrescence, and she heard something whispering to her as she walked. She thought she saw a face on the wall from the corner of her eye, until she turned to it and saw only smooth unblemished curves. The corridor was wide enough for a dozen people to walk comfortably abreast, and taller still. A strange darkness clung between the heavy struts that segmented the walls, comming to points like the roof of a cathedral, and she had a terrible feeling of being watched, that something was waiting to pounce when she let down her guard.

The journey was not a long one. The thralls pushed her down a corridor and through a heavy door. If, somehow, she managed to get out of the cage, she'd never get past it. She saw that the cell she'd been kept in with the others wasn't the only one. A forest of Asuka stared at her as she walked past, their blue eyes fixed on her like strange flowers. She saw one, different from the others, with red eyes and pale skin, her hair gossamer gold, and a shiver ran down her spine. The golden-haired Asuka's left leg ended in a stump at the knee, the skin folded over in a ragged scar.

One thrall turned to the other. "See to the Master. I will attend this one."

A chill ran down her spine. They didn't do anything to her, were they going to kill her instead? The thrall to her left let go and turned to scurry off, bowing even lower as he passed through the bulkhead, near the heavy door. The thrall clutching her arm led her near the cell, but stopped first.

"Listen to me very carefully," he whispered. "I'm going to help you escape."

She looked at him, but said nothing. He bowed his head so she could see nothing under his cowl.

"What do I do?" she whispered.

"Nothing, yet. When the time is right, I will provide you with what you need. Wait and do not draw attention to yourself."

She nodded. "Why are you helping me? Who are you?"

He turned his head. She saw a lock of hair; he was ancient by the color of it. She looked around. Maybe he wasn't.

"No one can know that we have spoken," he whispered, and urged her into the cell. The Old Asuka was asleep, cradling one of her wounded dopplegangers in her arms.

"Who are you?" Asuka repeated.

The thrall slid the door closed.

"I am Alpharius."

* * *

"Coordinates locked," said the computer in a female monotone, "Initiating jump."

Shinji was not getting used to this. The first thing he felt was a sort of lifting, as if his body was being pulled up sharply, the sort of jolt that makes it feel like you've left something important, like your internal organs, behind. The second thing he felt was a sudden disconnection as the synchronization left him during the actual process of the jump, a safety system the aliens must have added when they repaired his suit. The world snapped back into existence as he landed hard, stumbling around as he fought to regain his balance in the bulky suit while synchronizing with it at the same time. He ended up coming to a stop with leaves crunching under his boots.

"Status?"

"Jump successful. Spatial distortion drive spinning down. All systems nominal."

He flicked through the system's various screens anyway, just to be sure. He moved his arm; the aliens had even fixed up the grinding in his elbow. The air read clean enough for him to open his helmet, and so he did. The visor lifted and the jaw dropped, and cool air rushed over his face, tangy with the smell of drying leaves and an autumn chill. He stood for a moment drinking it in. He hadn't felt a cool breeze on his face in years, not since the conference in Berlin, the night Asuka had…

He stopped thinking about that and started walking. Downed foliage crunched under his feet. The trees around him were half bare, the leaves turned vibrant colors here, others curled into tiny brown fists there. He took a good look around, scanning the horizon for any movement. The aliens hadn't said anything about this place other than it was dangerous, which didn't help him much. The chronometer spun wildly until it settled on seven in the evening, and it must have just gone dark. A low mist clung to the ground that set him on edge.

"Computer, any movement?"

"Negative. There appears to be some sort of settlement ahead."

Shinji decided to walk it- no sense flying in and getting himself shot up by some sort of defense system. He willed the helmet to clang shut, too. It would probably be best to break it to whoever lived her gently. He trudged along the leafy road, and was confronted by a high wall that rose out of the mist ahead. It stretched on in either direction, three times as high as a man, made of whatever was to hand- car panels, random scraps of metal, diamond plate, cinder blocks. The top was lined with sharpened spines of rebar, pointing out, and from the dangled various odds and ends, cloves of garlic looped in strings and crosses and holy icons. Something about it made him edgy.

Built into a concrete blockhouse was a heavy gate, big enough for a large car to drive through. The gate itself was made of two welded together sections of scrap metal, overlapping. He walked up to it, passing under part of the blockhouse, and tapped his gauntlet on the doors. There was a hollow metal boom, and he waited. The only sound was the distant rustle of leaves swirled by dust devils. He was about to turn around.

"Proximity alert."

The sudden chime of the computer made him jump out of his skull, and he turned around, swinging his gauntlets to bring his emitters to bear on whatever was sneaking up on him, but saw nothing. Holding his arms wide, he turned in a slow circle. Intermittent blips appeared on his HUD, and he swung around to find them, only to confront empty air.

From nowhere, a streaking shape slammed into his side and bowled him over. He rolled with it, awkwardly stomping back on to his feet, and swung his arms around, but whatever it was had already disappeared. He flicked his gaze to the damage readout. He was still showing a green board, but the hit had rung his bell, and he couldn't get a fix on how fast the thing had been moving. He turned around, and hanging from the underside of roof over his head, a small figure watched him with crimson eyes that were too bright for mere reflection.

His throat seized up. He lowered his weapons out of reflex as Rei dropped down, turning in the air, and landed in a perfect dismount, her arm thrown out behind her. She stood up. Her hair was snow white, a perfect match to her skin, and despite the chill she wore only a leather vest and tight breeches, and was barefoot. She walked towards him slowly, putting one foot in front of the other, with a dancer's grace. He tried to remain non-threatening, and willed his helmet open.

"Rei," he said, "Listen to me, I-"

She rushed him so fast he barely had time to react. She hit him with astonishing force, knocking him off his feet, and pinned him to the ground. He tried to close his helmet but she wedged her hands between the visor and chin plate and held them open, the servos grinding until he relented. Her expression blank, she leaned close and sniffed at him.

"You're not dead."

"No," he said, trying to smile. "I'm sure not. How about you?"

"Close enough," she said softly, and stood up. "Don't move."

She pursed her lips to whistle and made a strange trilling sound, almost like a bird call. Shinji looked up, towards the gate, as it slid open, pulled by a grinding motor. He took a breath as he watched himself walk out. The other Shinji was shuffling on a bad knee held in place by a metal brace strapped around his leg. He was in better shape, too, his chest broader, his shoulders bigger, his jaw a little more angular and covered in stubble. He had some kind of a metal glove on his right hand, and a long gun stuck in a scabbard strapped to his back.

He was also carrying a chainsaw.

"What the hell is that?"

"No idea," Rei said softly, kneeling on Shinji, ready to grab his helmet again. "Should we kill it?"

"Does it talk?"

"Yes!" Shinji shouted, "I'm not an it!"

Rei wedged her hands back in to hold his helmet open while his counterpart drew the gun over his shoulder, a shortened double barreled shotgun, and swung it around to point it at authority at his face. The twin barrels looked enormous, and Shinji licked his lips.

"This is weird," said Rei.

"If you say it's weird, it's weird. Who the hell are you?"

Shinji shrugged, his armor twitching. As this made the man pointing the gun at his face tense up, Shinji immediately regretted it. He considered raising his AT-Field and flinging them both off.

"I'm Shinji Ikari."

"Funny, I thought I was Shinji Ikari."

"Hear me out," said Shinji. "I'm an alternate version of you, from a parallel universe."

The shotgun swung up, and he leaned it on his shoulder. "Let him go."

Rei stood up. Shinji awkwardly got up, keeping his helmet open. The Hunter watched him the entire time, his blue eyes fixed and hard. Something about him was unnerving, like something was missing from him.

"What is this place?" said Shinji.

"Home," said the Hunter. "Tokyo-3. The last fortress of mankind. There's about a hundred of us left."

"We should close the gate," said Rei, advancing towards it.

The Hunter turned and Shinji followed, looking around as he passed through it. The other Shinji pushed a lever over, and an electric motor turned a chain, grinding the gate closed. When it clanged shut, Rei picked up a very heavy looking car axle and dropped it into a set of heavy hooks welded to the back of the gate, barring it. She clapped her hands together and wiped the grease away on her pants.

"Why are you staring at me?"

"I haven't seen you in years," Shinji said, absently. "You know, 'I'm from a parallel universe' is a pretty weird line. Why did you believe me so fast?"

The hunter shrugged, and holstered his weapon. "Trust me. That's not the weirdest thing I've ever heard."

"Okay," Shinji said, nervously. "What happened here?"

"You mean lately, or do you want my life story?"

"Both."

The hunter sighed. "Twenty years ago, a cult called the Society of the Soul, used the Necronomicon-"

"The what?"

"An ancient book of spells," said Rei. "Bound in human flesh and inked in blood, it is an ancient Sumerian magical text, containing demon resurrection passages, curses, and invocations. It was never meant for the land of the living."

The Hunter gave her a look. "Right. Anyway, they used the book to resurrect this thing called Lilith, the Queen of the Vampires, locked under the Antarctic ice."

"On the Plateau of Leng," Rei added, helpfully.

The Hunter gave her yet another look. "I'm telling the story. Lilith escaped, turned the group that brought her out of the ice, and traveled with her children to Argentina. The world was swept by vampirism in a matter of years. By the time anyone knew what we were fighting, it was already too late. They can't be stopped, they can't be killed, all we can do is build walls and hide from them."

Shinji looked at Rei.

"I am a half vampire, a dhampir. I was created when our mother was bitten while in labor with me."

"I see," said Shinji. "That's… that sucks."

"Yes," said Rei.

"It was our hope that by killing the Queen, Rei would be able to take her place, and stop the rest of the vampires from wiping us out."

Shinji looked around. "I'm going to guess that didn't work."

The Hunter gave him a hard look. "No. As it turned out, it wasn't Rei that landed the killing blow."

Shinji balked. "Then who was it?"

"Asuka," Shinji said softly, "and it was my fault, what she became. We were in Lilith's stronghold. Rei was down, I was dying, and Asuka was surrounded and outmatched. She drank the blood of a vampire, hoping she would retain control of herself while she turned." The Hunter's voice became very tight. "She did, for a while. She begged me to kill her, but I wouldn't listen. Day by day she lost control, going from begging me to destroy her to flailing and trying to break out from where we had her chained up. When she fully turned, she had killed the Queen and became the Queen herself. We barely survived. She turned Hikari and Mari-"

"Who?"

The Hunter gave him a quizzical look. "Mari Makinami. You don't know her?"

Shinji shrugged.

"Huh," said the Hunter. "She turned them, killed others. Toji, Ritsuko."

"Misato?"

"Who?" said the Hunter.

Shinji looked away. "It doesn't matter. What happened after that?"

"We've been trying to survive," said the Hunter. "Asuka is smarter, faster than Lilith was, more vicious. They were taking a dozen people a night. I don't even know how they got past the walls. The garlic always stopped them before, the crosses. Then, it stopped."

"What do you mean?'

He shrugged. "We've been outside the walls a dozen times. Usually we at least run into a few suckheads, that's what we call the ones that have gone feral, they look like big rats. Nothing. No raiding parties, either. It's like the vampires have just disappeared off the face of the Earth."

Shinji swallowed. "I think I know why I'm here. I know where they went, and I need you to come with me."

* * *

Sleep was difficult. Asuka would huddle with the others for warmth. Somehow, the dank, musty interior of the cell was feverishly hot, and yet she would quickly find herself shivering. She ended up crawling to the rear of the cell, resting her head on Old Asuka's lap. Sleep came fitfully, and she would suddenly awake, a half-heard whisper alien chant filtering into her ears. Her peers slept better, or else they were simply too tired to be restless. She ended up raising her head to discover that the lights had been shut off- she had no idea what time it was, or how long she'd been there.

A figure stood at the front of the cell. Asuka slowly got up, disentangling herself from the sleep-heavy limbs of her comrades. She stumbled to the bars, hesitating to touch them for fear they were electrified, or some other horror. She thought she recognized the same thrall from earlier by his sharp chin, but in his deep cowl, there was no way to be sure.

"Who are you?" she whispered.

"I am Alpharius."

"What do you want?"

He touched a panel at the side of her cell, tapping a key code, and the door unlocked with a soft click. Alpharius urged it open, careful to make no sound, and raised a single finger to his thin lips in a gesture of silence. Asuka nodded and followed him through the dark, wanting to ask why me, but keeping quiet. She felt a sick pang of quiet as the door slid shut. Alpharius seemed to sense her unease, and shook his heat slightly, barely nudging his cowl. Asuka frowned.

She followed him in another direction, into narrower, smaller corridors that ran alongside the main one. It was darker here, and the scents and strange sounds closer. She felt a curious itching between her shoulder blades, as if she were being observed. She shrugged her arms and hugged herself, glancing this way and that. Alpharius walked on unerringly, his footsteps utterly silent. She started to lose track of the twists and turns. Sometimes, her companion picked up his pace, while others, he would stop without warning and wait, as if expecting something to pass. She saw junctions and adjoining corridors, but Alpharius seemed to know the way without even really looking.

They came upon another thrall, standing at the junction of another set of corridors, and Alpharius approached him. The thrall inclined his head slightly to her, keeping his face hidden, and his hands obscured inside the sleeves of his robe.

"I will take you from here. It is best if no one individual knows the entire route."

Asuka blinked. "Who are you?"

"I am Alpharius."

"I thought he was Alpharius."

"It is most curious. I am also Alpharius."

Asuka looked from Alpharius to Alpharius. It beat the cell. She hoped it would, anyway. "Where are we going?"

"I don't know," the new Alpharius said as she began following him.

"Who does?"

"Alpharius does," said Alpharius.

In total, there was maybe another hour of seemingly random turns, and two more changes of the guard, as it were, all of them identifying themselves by the same name. She thought they'd crossed over the same path a few times, but changed the route. She was beginning to suspect they didn't want her knowing how she got wherever it was she was going, either. Finally, Alpharius stopped at a small hatch.

"It is this way. You must now travel alone."

"Why?"

"I can't say," said Alpharius.

Asuka's eyes narowed as he undid the hatch, exposing a narrow corridor that was more properly called a tunnel, but still tall enough to stand, just barely. She edged inside and held her breath as the hatch closed behind her. Asuka froze, listening for sounds, but heard only a faint dripping, and smelled a deep, mechanical tang in the air that made her snuffle and try to force it back out. She began pacing down the hall in the darkness, stopping to touch the wall once in a while and make sure it was still there. She walked for what felt like forever, until her legs burned, following a lazy curve that took her a half an hour to notice. The roof dropped down, and she crouched, then got down on her hands and knees, working her way along.

Eventually, she saw a faint light, and moved hurriedly towards it. It resolved into a kind of grate, a fine metal mesh that admitted a tiny bit of light. She moved to it and sat down just behind it, peering through the mesh, and froze. A wave of raw terror surged through her. It was him. The Primarch.

Even on his knees, he was enormous. He was engaged in some kind of prayer, it seemed, whispering silently to a bier in front of him where another Asuka rested, bathed in a golden light, splayed out on a soft white cushion, her hands folded on her chest. She didn't look dead, but she didn't look alive, either. Asuka was sure she wasn't breathing, but she didn't look naturally still, either. It was like she was frozen.

She strained to listen, praying the immense being in the room wouldn't notice her. She was able to make out her own name, and the word please, over and over and over again, becoming almost a drone. She held her breath and waited. Her head drooped, and she nearly fell asleep before the Primarch rose to his feet, his movements bizarrely smooth and graceful for a giant. He dwarfed the girl on the bier, who would have come up to his waist if she stood. She looked young and fragile, like a flower frozen in liquid nitrogen, liable to shatter at any instant and be gone forever. The Primarch stared at her for a moment more, then stomped off, sweeping his wolf cloak behind him. He ducked under the bulkhead in a curiously human motion and the heavy doors slid shut behind him.

She looked through the grate. It was either go in, or go back. She probed at it with her hands, her heart leaping into her throat when it pushed out slightly, and emitted a squeal that would wake the dead. When she heard no reaction outside, she pushed it enough to wriggle out from under it and landed, freezing and covered in oil, on the cold floor. It clanged shut behind her, and she winced. The huge room was dark, lit only from above.

Asuka looked up. She'd never seen so many stars in her life. The sky outside the too-thin dome was too bright with them, like someone had gathered up a whole galaxy and spilled it on a black canvas. She took a few steps forward and looked at herself, lying on the bier. Recognizing her fourteen year old self made her stomach lurch. What was he doing to her? Was this the one the Old Asuka said he was trying to fix, or another prisoner?

There was some kind of a panel on the side of her bier. There was nothing separating her from the air. Asuka considered sticking her hand in the golden light, but hesitated, drawing back from it. She touched the panel and held her breath. It surprised her. It was like flicking off a lamp. The other Asuka was suddenly bathed in the same twilight as the rest of the room.

An alarm thundered in her ears, and Asuka whirled. She could hear thundering footfalls coming towards the door, and turned around in a panic. The other Asuka's chest rose and fell, rose and fell, just barely noticeable. She didn't seem to be able to move. Asuka moved to her side, ready to scoop her up and try to make a run for it with her. She didn't think the armored giants could fit down that shaft.

The other Asuka's eye flicked open. It was blue, blur so brilliant it put the summer sky to shame. Asuka felt a sudden wave of intense cold, and colors flickered in her vision, but not in her sight, whirling around her head. She felt the sudden invasion flare into her like a jet of hot gas, and trying to hold it back was like holding back the ocean- it slipped between the fingers of her mental defense like cold water even as the mass of the wave bowled her off her feet. She lost all sense of herself, all sense of time, all sense of having a body. She was rendered down to a discrete point, to an observer in space, and a tiny voice whispered to her.

_+Do you see+_

* * *

It was like falling backwards, the surging panic at the first hint of toppling backwards from a high seat, drawn into infinity. Somewhere, her heart was thundering in her chest, yet at the same time, she was standing on the flying bridge of a ship, somewhere she'd never seen before. Over the Rainbow. Who would give an aircraft carrier such a silly name? The world spread out underneath her, a gleaming blue infinity rolling in time with the deck of the ship. Vessels spread in all directions, dragging wakes behind them like imperfections on the face of a jewel. She watched the helicopter thumping in from the East and ran down the metal stairs, her polished patent leather shoes clicking loudly as she took them two at a time.

Anticipation. She'd been waiting to see him for weeks, having heard so many stories. She wanted to size herself up against the Third Child, to see if all the rumors and whispers were true. She didn't even know what he looked like- his file was a blank, like Ayanami's, with only some vital statistics and a set of synch test scores, all of them absurdly high, higher than hers. The thought of it pained her. She would put him in his place. She knew it.

_Wait, this never happened. I came by plane while Unit Two was transported from the Berlin facility by train, we-_

She steadied herself as she marched across the deck, putting her shoulders back, wondering, as the wind whipped, what motivated her to wear a damned skirt. She looked off to her left and saw Kaji sauntering towards the arriving chopper, his face an even mask, fixed in a false grin. She felt something radiating him, like the feeling of phantom hairs from a strong static electric charge. She focused on him and he stumbled a step, glancing at her, and winced. Images of the previous night floated in her mind, the way he'd taken her by the shoulders and shoved her out of his quarters.

_Wait, I wouldn't do that, I didn't-_

She lost all concentration as the rear door of the chopper swung down and clanged on the deck. Kensuke ran out, dragging Toji behind him, camera in hand. Misato followed them with an exasperated look on her face. Following behind her was him. Shinji. He walked down the ramp with his held high, commanding. When his blue eyes swept over her and fixed on her face, she stumbled to a stop in her tracks, and her knees buckled. He blinked, and the movement seemed too human, unreal, out of place.

She wasn't sure what she was expecting. He was beautiful. Like a statue brought to life, some artist's vision of the perfect figure. He stood head and shoulders over Misato and seemed twice as wide, his broad chest and boulder shoulders straining under a Nerv uniform jacket. He walked as if he was floating, instantly used to the rolling of the deck even as Toji and Kensuke struggled to adjust, and even Misato stumbled a little. Only when he drew near did she realize exactly how big he was; his perfect proportions made it hard to notice.

"You're Asuka," he said.

Her jaw dropped and she nodded, vaguely.

A sudden gust of wind rolled across the deck, feathering in her ears, whipping her hair around her face. Toji's

_How do I know his name_

hat pulled free of his head and rolled across the deck, and her skirt lifted, surging up around her hips. She pushed back down at it. Toji started to move for the had, until Shinji put his hand on Toji's shoulder and gestured with his fingertips. The hat glued itself to the deck, pushed down as if an invisible hand rested on it, and something grabbed her skirt and smoothed it down around her legs until the wind passed, fluttering back into a gentle sea breeze. Toji scooped up his hat and put it on his head.

"Hi," he said awkwardly.

Asuka shook her head. She tried to summon he usual bellicose bravado, but she ignored the boy completely, focusing on Shinji. He was intent at her, towering over her. She had to crane her neck up to look into his eyes.

_+Can you hear me+_

"Yes?" she blinked, and realized everyone was staring at her.

She'd heard his voice in her head.

_+Yes+_

A thin smiled curled his lips. Misato glanced at them, as if trying to piece together some puzzle.

The world melted. She was sitting at a table in the officer's mess. Her hands were still shaking, so she gripped the edge of the table hard, folding the immaculate white tablecloth under her thumbs. Shinji sat at the head of the table, solely because there was no room for him elsewhere. Kaji looked small and weak next to him, like a child sitting at a table beside a man. He kept glancing at Shinji, a faint twinge of fear dancing in his eyes. Asuka could taste it, could feel it, like something bubbling in the air, a faint rotten tang. Shinji noticed it too, slowing as he took a bite of steak, holding the fork in his left hand, in the Continental fashion. She hadn't expected him to be so cultured.

"So," Kaji said, breaking the tension. "I understand you live with Katsuragi."

"Yes," said Shinji.

"So tell me, is she sti-"

The room went cold. The temperature dropped five degrees. Everyone was utterly silent as Kaji sat up from his seat, tossed his utensils on the table, and murmured some excuse before backing away, flicking glances over his shoulder at Shinji. He broke into a run halfway to the door.

_+What did you do+_ she sent, biting her lip in concentration.

_+I find that one tiresome.+_

She stood up, barely having touched her food. "I want to show Shinji my Eva."

"Your Eva," Misato said in a knowing tone.

Asuka's eyes narrowed.

Just like that, they were on the cargo ship, standing under the flapping tarp. The sea breeze made it sound like constant, distant thunder over their heads. Unit Two lay sprawled on its belly, half submerged in a pool of cool LCL that circulated around it with a soft murmuring sound. Shinji stood with his hands on the railing, gazing into the eyes of the giant in silence.

_+Do you hear her+_

Asuka blinked. She still wasn't used to that. She stood beside him.

"How do you do that?"

He stood up and turned to face her. "The same way you do."

"I don't know how!" she shouted, her fingers curling into fists. "What are you?"

He looked at her for a while and gave her that soft smile again. His eyes twitched and she saw his right hand curl into a fist. She felt something, like invisible hands around her waist, and when she looked down, the fabric of her dress was smoothed there, as if something was touching her. She lifted gently to the air, raised by some invisible force until her toes broke contact with the deck. She raised up to look at him eye to eye.

"I don't know," he whispered.

Everything changed again. They were in the plug. It was cramped. She was sitting on his lap. They were being buffeted by the pounding water and the sheer force of the angel, a titan that dwarfed Unit Two and probably the aircraft carrier, too. Raw terror surged through her. They were in the water, and Unit Two would sink like a stone, entombing them in the deep. She was going to die.

_+No+_

Alarms sounded everywhere around her. The synchronization was failing.

_+You don't need that. Sing to her.+_

She didn't know what he meant, only that he sat up and put his arms around her, cradling her head with his hand. The fear melted out of her, flowing out through her toes and vanishing into the aether. His hands were huge and so strong, like he could crush her without a thought, but soft. She felt something else, something deep in the Eva she'd never noticed before, hidden from her somehow.

"Momma?"

The scene changed once again. She was weeping bitterly, her hands pressed into her eyes, clawing at her own face. She still had her plugsuit on. She was curled up in the corner of the showers, the hot water running over her, scalding and steaming. She wanted it to go hotter, wanted it to kill her, to wash her away. She was useless, useless. In her first real engagement, she'd lasted two minutes, and Shinji had killed the twin angel by himself. Unit One just raised its hand and the beast came apart, shredded by some invisible force. Rei was standing in the corner, watching her quizzically.

Shinji stepped into the showers, still in his plugsuit. He looked at Rei.

"Leave."

The strange girl complied, glancing sidelong at him as she left. Shinji walked over to her and sat down. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes, and all of the valves closed at once, spinning down until they clanged shut and the flow of water suddenly cut off. Asuka made a chuffing sound of anger, trying to force words from her dry throat, but none would come.

He was smaller. He was only as tall as she was. How did he do that?

It didn't matter. He picked her up and put her on his lap, as easily as if she weight nothing at all. How did he make himself smaller? Why would he do that? She sat up as his hand rested on her cheek. She could feel him through his hand, feel his thoughts. Could he do the same?

"I need you."

Of course he could.

She leaned on him. He was warm.

So was she. She was burning hot. The world was a crushing tomb, plunging in around her. She heard the Eva grinding, felt the heat rising. Someone was screaming in her ear about the coolant lines breaking. She grabbed the butterfly yoke and pulled it back hard, trying to regain control, to somehow dig herself out of the magma, but it was no use. She was sinking.

She heard a tiny cracking sound, and felt herself moving. The Eva was rising, groaning as something pulled it from above. She went limp, too tired, too fatigued to move. Heat stroke. Breathing was hard, like the LCL was turning solid in her lungs. She was going to die anyway. The sensation of movement increased and she felt herself fuzzing in and out of consciousness.

_This isn't me! My suit is-_

She blinked awake. They were surrounded by wreckage, Shinji cradling her in his arms. He'd torn Unit Two's back apart and ripped away the D-Type suit, unfurled it with his mind like strips of paper. There was a thin coating of frost all over him, and her breath blew out cold, turning to mist in the air. He curled himself around her as if he was afraid she would vanish.

"Today," he said, "it ends today."

She was standing with him in Gendo Ikari's office. She was leaning on a crutch. She'd been hurt somehow, her leg an angry map of pain that refused to respond to her will, and there was a patch over her eye, sucking the depth out of the world. Ikari sat at his desk, as calm and collected as ever. Shinji towered over her, his head nearly scraping the ceiling. Misato stood behind him, glancing about nervously.

"You tried to kill her."

"It was necessary," said Gendo.

"So is this," said Shinji.

He closed his fist. Gendo's desk came apart in gleaming black shards. Asuka closed her eyes. She only saw a bare moment of what happened to the man himself, but she never wanted to see that again.

When she opened them, she was in Unit Two again, in the middle of a furious attack. She recognized the enemy at once. The fourteenth angel.

_Oh God, oh God, not again-_

Unit One strode across the battlefield, wreathed in pyschic flame. In its chest, its core burned like a miniature sun. Wings of flame, glittering in a thousand colors like shattered diamonds, splayed out behind his back, and a ring of light formed over his head. He had discarded his umbilical, as he no longer required it. The Eva's feet weren't touching the ground. A sword of flames formed in his fist, and he set upon the angel.

The battle was brief, and it was brutal.

It was the aftermath that concerned her. They met in the locker room, as they had several times before. When he came to her, he somehow reduced his own size, made himself like her, but perfect. Every night was a nigh she never wanted to end, but it always did. She opened her eyes and gazed into hell.

Wings, wings of light and a chorus of voices, a thousand and one. She raised her psychic defenses as they'd practiced, and the angel shattered them with the barest effort, laying her bare. A lifetime pain flowed through her in a continuous loop, her every second expanded into fourteen years of mental anguish. She saw many things, she saw her mother, she saw the half-remembered glimpse of Gendo Ikari's face separating from his head, she saw when Rei tried to stop Shinji and Shinji wept as he _unmade_ her. She heard a distant drumbeat and realized it was her heart, pounding and pounding until it could keep the beat no more.

In her dream-hell Shinji found her, a towering giant of light, the spirit freed from the flesh. He was a god, his soul so bright she feared it would burn her own away. He seized the angel in his psychic grasp and taught it a thousand litanies of pain. All his cruelty, all his malice, flowed back into the distant creature and tore it apart from the inside, its final moments a world-ripping scream of pure anguish.

Beneath it, somewhere distant in a sea of colors without name, a tiny, hoarse voice whispered, _he will be mine in the end._

It was their last battle. They were beset by enemies from every direction. Toji fought valiantly in his Unit Three, warring at her side. Hikari brought Unit Four with them. Asuka screamed as she grappled with the white giants, the Mass Production series that outnumbered them by more than two to one. Shinji was occupied, fighting something that called itself Tabris, along with a horde of soldiers in Self Defense Force uniforms. Everything became a jumble. She tore the enemies apart in her bare hands. They surrounded Hikari, cutting her legs out from under her. The yellow Eva went down, and four of them surrounded her and raised and lowered their swords, and Hikari's strangled scream became a gurgle of pain and then nothing. Toji went berserk, raging at them.

She last saw Unit Three with the heads of two of the Mass Production units impaled on its shoulder pylons. After that, there was only pain, pain in her belly and in her eye, lancing, growing stronger by the instant. She felt fire in her arm, felt the flesh peel from from her bone. They were killing her. She blacked out, and floated in an infinite sea of darkness, alone with distant laughter like thunder before a storm.

She woke up and remembered once more, Shinji squatting amid the wreckage, holding her tiny, broken body in his huge arms. Another stood before him, a giant of light and gold. The last words she remembered rang in her mind like clanging bells.

"Can you fix her?"

A tiny voice, her own voice, whispered to her.

_+Save him.+_

Then, it was over.

* * *

"It's a volcano," said the Hunter.

"Yes. Yes it is," said Shinji.

"You can see why I would be nervous about this."

It was an active volcano, to boot, recently erupted according to his suit's onboard computer. The overlay suggested it had erupted only a few years ago, at the maximum. It didn't stand out much from the surrounding environment, except for the new growth of trees where they'd burned after the eruption and the solidified flow of magma down one side. The most striking feature was the obviously alien spacecraft jutting from its side, three huge thrusters yawning open. Shinji, the Hunter, and Rei walked up the mountain path towards it, between the trees.

Shinji stopped. Parked up the path from where the trio stood was an old Army jeep, but everything about it was off. The heat signatures didn't line up with a proper engine compartment, and it had some sort of exotic weapon on a pintle mount above the back seat. He edged closer to it, motioning for the others to stay put. His counterpart reached over his shoulder and took hold of the stock of his shotgun.

Approaching with his helmet open, he tapped on the hood with his gauntlet.

"Hey!" a voice from the radio shouted, "What's the big idea?"

Shinji took a step back, his arms out. "You're not a car."

The vehicle made a sound, a rapid five-note burst of synthesized noise, and unfolded. Panels slid back, the engine compartment dipped forward, and a pair of arms unfolded from the sides and planted themselves in the earth, steadying the being as it stood to its full height, the last few sections clamping into place. Twice again as tall as Shinji, the machine knelt down to speak with him, its face a configuration of shifting metal panels.

"Nice suit."

"I'm looking for the Autobots."

"You found 'em."

The weapon, now mounted on the robot's shoulder, swung around and aimed at him. "I just need to know why you're lookin'."

Shinji shrugged, the armor grinding with the movement. "Yellow aliens sent me to save the universe."

"Oh," said the Jeep. "Okay, then. I'm Hound. Follow me."

He motioned to the others, and they followed. The machine walked before them, each step hammering the ground. Shinji looked around nervously, glancing back at his companions. Rei was indifferent as usual, while the other Shinji, the Hunter, nervously scanned the treeline. Whether it was from paranoia or mere habit, he didn't know. The path wound gently up too the foot of the mountain where the ship was embedded, looming far overhead, built on an utterly inhuman scale. Whether someone inside saw their approach or Hound send some invisible signal, there was a great grinding sound and a ramp slowly scissored down until it came to rest on the earth and threw out a tiny puff of dust around its edges. Golden light bathed the inside of the ship.

Shinji put one foot on the ramp, then the other, and started walking slowly upwards. The interior of the ship was vast, the ceiling far above. He stumbled a little as he saw more of these Autobots moving around inside. One, mostly red with what looked like the barrel of an optical instrument of some kind slung over his shoulder, stood up from work on some sort of circuit board to watch them pass. There were others- a horned giant with windshield for a chest, a small, yellow one with curved, sweeping body panels that looked like parts of a Volkswagen, a big one with a cannon sticking out of his chest. They turned from their work and gathered around, watching Shinji and his companions in silence.

Shinji coughed. "My name is Shinji Ikari. I'm here to talk to you about the Decepticons."

The assorted robots drew back. Some looked up, while others bowed their heads in reverence. Shinji swallowed. The leader was taller than the others, gleaming glass in his chest and the grille of a truck beneath it. He projected an air of authority and power that instantly made Shinji nervous, until he took a booming step closer and knelt, resting a huge arm over one knee.

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots."

"The Decepticons have disappeared," said Shinji.

The machines all looked at one another.

"I know where they are. We're putting a team together." He looked over his shoulder at his companions. "I probably have a lot of explaining to do."

"I'm listening."

Shinji laid it all out- what happened on his world, the appearance of 'Megatron' on the alien ship. The mention of that one's name drew hushed noises from the Autobots. He expected them to communicate via radio signal or something, but they whispered to one another just the same. Prime nodded as Shinji went along, nodding but asking no questions. When Shinji finished, he turned and said "Perceptor."

The one with the big optic on his shoulder stepped forward, knelt, and projected some sort of beam of light at Shinji. He flinched, but felt nothing. No alarms went off in his suit. When the beam went out, Perceptor turned to Prime.

"I believe he is telling the truth, Optimus. I am detecting several indicators of inter-dimensional travel, such as-"

"Enough a' that," another one said, stepping forward. His voice was a heavy drawl. "Let's go find 'em and kick their butts back where they belong."

"Easy, Ironhide," said Prime. He turned back to Shinji. "You have plans to gather other allies? We're not prepared to face a force like this alone."

"Yeah, actually. I have a whole list."

* * *

Asuka's eyes fluttered open. She was sitting in a chair. A very plush chair. Given what had happened to her over the last day -few days?- she immediately suspected some sort of trap or horrible torture was about to fall on her. She wasn't bound or chained down, and could stand up freely. She noticed two things immediately. One, her clothes had been changed. She was wearing an all too familiar yellow sun dress, an old favorite of hers before she'd outgrown it, although this one was cut to fit her. Two, there was a heavy metal collar around her neck. She traced her fingers over it, finding it covered with sharp studs and strange, alien runes carved into the metal. Just tracing them with her finger made her feel sick. The collar was big- it hung from her neck, and she should have been able to just pick it up and gently work it free, but when she tried, it suddenly became heavy, refusing to budge.

"What is this?" she said quietly.

She looked around the room. It reminded her of the captain's cabin from a pirate ship out of some cheesy movie, but completely in earnest. The floor was covered in plush carpeting and the walls were paneled in an unfamiliar wood like burlwood, the dark brown figured with darker spots that reminded her of screaming faces. She didn't want to look at it. From the looks of things, she was in some kind of library or study, complete with an wide black desk. Tracing her fingers over the surface, she felt curious cracks in it, as if it had been broken apart and took back together.

She gasped. It was Ikari's desk. It had to be. There was a picture frame sitting on one corner, propped up by a little stand. It was so ordinary it was absurd, a simple piece of everyday existence trapped in the center of all this madness. She picked it up. The picture, faded, worn, and with a tear along one corner, was a photograph of Misato on a beach. She bent towards the camera, arching her back so that her chest bulged against the top of her swimsuit. A drawn arrow pointed at her cleavage for emphasis.

She hastily put the picture down. A shadow fell over her. It was him.

She recognized him from her vision. He was just a little taller than her, and his face was unmarked, but it was the Primarch, dressed in a tight black bodysuit with a simple purple surplice layered over it. His arms were folded behind his back, and his eyes focused on her, hard.

"What do you want?"

"I'd like you to join me for dinner."

Asuka considered that for a moment. "Go to hell."

That was a mistake. He stormed across the room and grabbed her by the arm, clamping down with a vice gripe that was just a hair short of painful, and dragged her nearly off her feet. He pushed through a door into a much larger room, dominated by a long, low table. There were no chairs. He shoved her to the foot of the table and she fell on her backside. Food was laid out before them. Sausages and fried eggs and that soup Shinji always made when they lived with Misato. It was everything he used to cook for her that she liked.

She turned her nose up. It was hard. She was so hungry, she had to press her lips closed or risk drooling down her chin. She folded her arms over her chest and turned away from him as he sat down on the far end.

"You'll give in eventually."

She pushed her eyes closed, but the scent of the food, she couldn't escape. She whimpered, then broke down, surging at the table. She ignored her plate and her utensils, grabbing a sausage in her hand. Each bite was a burst of joy, making her quiver with relief. She ate it in three bites, then began shoveling scrambled eggs into her mouth with her bare hands, in between big gulps of soup, pausing to chew the chunks of tofu. The Primarch watched her in silence. She ate everything within reach, until she was almost painfully full.

"You can still go to hell. I know what you did."

Seated in the lotus position, he put his hands on his knees and looked at her flatly. "What I did?"

"You killed Rei. You turned Toji into that _thing_. You scrambled your Asuka's brains until she was your little doll. I felt it. You did all that and then she begged me to save you."

The look on his face, a brief flicker, was like a dozen emotions at once.

"You have no idea. No idea," he said very softly, his voice edged with malice. "I did what I had to do. She was full of pain. I took it away, and gave her what she wanted. I didn't want to kill Rei. I had to. She would have ruined everything. She was too powerful. She was only a xenos abomination, in any case. She deserved to die."

"Is that what you tell yourself so you can sleep at night?"

"I haven't slept in years," he said grimly. "Toji and Kensuke were blessed. There were so few left. To become an Astartes is a great honor-"

"_Honor_?" Asuka snapped, "Toji is a frothing lunatic and Kensuke has been taking lessons from Mengele. What the hell are you doing down there?"

"Saving you."

"Saving me? You're five minutes away from cutting me up for spare parts."

He sighed. "Your temporary disabling of the stasis field has been problematic. From what Kensuke tells me, her body can no longer be saved. Fortunately, we have a whole one, with the required potentialities. It will only be a matter of improving it."

Asuka felt the blood drain from her face. "W-what?"

"Why, you, of course. You're a psyker. Didn't you know that?"

She touched the collar at her neck. It felt like it weighed a thousand pounds. "I-I don't-"

"You will be changed. Improved. Perfected. You will become like me, free from disease or physical defect, the feeble powers of your mind expanded. Then, I will reach out and capture her soul, and transfer it into you."

She was shaking. "What happens to me?"

"You may still exist in some form, as part of her. You seemed able to briefly commingle your soul with hers. Were you simply another human, I doubt-"

Asuka screamed, grabbed a knife from the table, and leapt. She ran around it, knife held high. Shinji moved so fast she could barely see him, his hand clamping around her wrist. He lifted her bodily from the ground, her toes scraping the carpet. Gingerly, he turned the knife out of her hand and tossed it on the table.

"So much like her," he mused.

Asuka screamed incoherently and spat at him.

"Amusingly, I cannot use my own gifts to stop or influence you while you wear that," he said, eyeing the collar. "The effect works both ways, both preventing you from accessing your own latent power while denying you to mine."

He lowered her enough that her feet settled on the floor. "Of course, I could simply remove it, and turn you into a vegetable. In all likelihood the process would still succeed."

He let go, and her hand fell to her side. "Very good. I don't know how you escaped, only that you required help. I cannot risk returning you to the cells. Rest assured, those who gave you aid will find themselves short a head. Toji rather favors that. You will remain here."

Asuka felt a tiny spark of hope.

"There are no vents, crawlspaces, tunnels, or means of escape. Two of my Berserkers stand guard at the door at all times. You will remain here."

He turned to leave. "Dinner will be served in a few hours. You will find a change of clothes in the trunks in my study. An evening gown tonight, I think."

He stood at the door, and changed. He doubled in size, as if he'd been crouching and stood up, and adjusted himself. The doors spread open, and the two metal monsters outside, clad in some purple and green mockery of Unit One, knelt as he passed, resting massive weapons on their shoulders, poleaxes with chainsaws for blades. The door closed and left Asuka trapped inside, an immense cold sinking into her bones.

* * *

"Hey, where do these stairs go?" said Shinji.

Asuka looked up the scorched steps, only visible now through a break in the wall of Misato Katsuragi's apartment. Where the refrigerator once stood, as a matter of fact. She looked around at the rest of her team and sighed.

"They go up. You first, Shinji."

Shinji looked around nervously. Toji shrugged, and Rei just stared blankly. Rei always just stared blankly. Shinji started up the stairs, grunting. They'd already walked up eighteen flights, and every step was a trudging agony. Asuka brought up the rear, her proton stick held tightly in her hand. Something about this was making her nervous. She looked up at the coal black sky as a peel of thunder from unseen lightning rolled over the roof of the building.

It was probably that.

Shinji edged up onto the roof, the others piling up behind him, just in time to see the two creatures writhing on plinths near the edge of the roof. Lightning forked out of the sky and struck the grand pair of temple doors carved into the stone facade, followed by a peel of thunder that almost rolled them back down the stairs. It struck the prostrate forms of Misato Katusragi and Makoto Hyuga, scything through their bodies. Shinji rushed forward, and Asuka grabbed his proton pack and yanked him back.

There was a flash of light, and they were gone. In their place stood a pair of creatures. Lean and lanky with narrow waists and broad shoulders, they turned to face Asuka and her team with strange, bird-mask like faces, then hunched and darted forward, towards the opening doors. Asuka pushed forward and the others followed her up onto the roof. The doors stood wide open, leading into a strange space, where luminous mists swirled and distant thunder rumbled. Floating in the center was a giant temple made of crystal, linked to the roof by a wide set of gleaming white stairs.

"That isn't in the plans," said Asuka.

"It is an inter-dimensional gate," said Rei.

"Shoot it," said Asuka.

The four stepped up, leveled their proton sticks, and fired. Four beams of spiraling energy shot out into the void, playing over the surface of the temple. The twin creatures, seated on great blocks of crystal, looked on in sublime indifference.

Asuka shut off her beam. The others followed. "Welp, I'm out of ideas. What now, Rei?"

Before she could answer, a pair of doors in the inner temple swung open, and something emerged. It looked vaguely human, with pale skin that glittered in the twilight of the gate, and silvery hair that sat in a wild mop on its head. It wore a skin-tight suit of some strange silken material, and walked on high heeled shoes.

"Is that a dude, or a chick?" said Toji.

"It's whatever it wants to be," said Rei.

Asuka nodded. "Okay. Get her, Rei."

Rei looked at her. "Excuse me?"

Asuka shrugged.

Rei stepped forward, holding her stick in a neutral position. She looked up at the apparition and said, "Hello?"

The being fixed its crimson-eyed gaze on her. "What?"

Rei turned around and shrugged. "By the authority vested in me by the city of Tokyo-3, I hereby order you to return to your universe of origin, or the nearest convenient parallel dimension."

Asuka pinched the bridge of her nose. "Good job, Rei. That's just great. Rei Ayanami, everybody."

The creature took two steps down the stairs, and cocked its head. "Are you a god?"

Rei looked over shoulder. "Not that I know of."

"Then, die."

Shinji, the idiot, grabbed Asuka. The creature drew back and turned around sharply, thrusting its arms out. Energy crackled over its body and rushed out in a wave, sweeping over the rooftop. Rei was lifted up from her feet and thrown back and hit Toji bowling them both over. Asuka held on to Shinji for dear life, but lost her footing and dragged her down with him. She reached out, her gloved hand slipping over the surface, but found no purchase. Shinji managed to hook his arm around the base of one of the stone tables and pulled her back from the edge through main strength as Toji pinned his leg against a stone block and looped his arms around Rei's waist.

The energy wave subsided. Asuka sat up. Toji blushed furiously as Rei leaned on him and they got to their feet together. Asuka took Shinji's hand and shakily got to her feet, a surge of terror flowing through her when she realized her proximity to the edge. The creature stared at them, radiating raw contempt.

"Rei," Toji gasped, "If someone asks you if you are a god, you say _yes_."

"Okay," Asuka snapped, "I've had enough of this. Let's show this prehistoric bitch how we do things downtown."

They lined up, twisting the proton sticks to maximum.

"Roast her!" Shinji cried.

The beams hit the creature and passed through it. There was a momentary whisper of shock on its face, and then it simple vanished, leaving tiny swirls of smoke where its feet had been moments before. Asuka shut off her pack, and threw her stick over her shoulder.

"That wasn't so bad."

The concrete under their feet began to shake. Asuka stumbled, and Shinji again grabbed her to keep her on her feet. She looked up, just in time to shove him out of the way as an angry stone face cracked loose from the facade and tumbled earthwards, slamming onto the roof and rolling over the edge.

"I hope that doesn't hit the car." Toji shouted.

Light flashed over the roof.

"BEHOLD, LILIM, TABRIS IS UPON YOU. CHOOSE THE FORM OF THE DESTRUCTOR."

"Wait," said Asuka, "What?"

"CHOOSE OR PERISH."

"This is bad," said Rei.

"Really," said Toji.

"Whoa, whoa, I get it," said Asuka, stepping back from the others. "Whatever we think of. If we think of a Hideaki Anno, Hideaki Anno will appear and destroy us. Clear your heads."

She closed her eyes, and cleared her mind, focusing blankly on nothing, wondering how long she could keep it up. She found herself trying to keep Mister Peanut from popping into her mind for some reason. She scrubbed her hands through her hair, focusing on her internal blankness.

"THE DESTRUCTOR IS CHOSEN."

"Hey!" Asuka shouted up at the flashing light, "Nobody choosed anything!"

She turned to the others. "Rei, did you choose anything?"

Rei shook her head.

"Toji, did you choose anything?"

Toji shrugged.

She turned to Shinji. He sheepishly backed away, staring at his feet. She grabbed his collard.

"What did you do, idiot?"

"It was an accident. It just popped in there."

A titanic sound rolled through the air, making them all duck.

_WARK_!

"You gotta be kidding me," said Toji.

They rushed to the roof. Taking bounding steps through the city was an eighty foot tall, pink, marshmallow penguin. Wearing a chef's toque.

"It's the adventures of Monsieur Pen-Pen," said Shinji. "I used to watch it when I was a kid. I tried to think of something so gentle, so-"

Pen-Pen reared up, swung its marshmallow flipper, and smashed it through the side of a building. It threw its head back and roared.

"Great job," said Asuka "Okay, Rei, Shinji's gone bye-bye. You have anything for me?"

"I'm sorry. I'm terrified beyond the capacity for rational thought."

"Let's shoot it," said Toji.

"Okay," said Asuka.

The blasts from their proton packs hit the gargantuan ambulatory mass of sugar square in the chest and knocked it back. Flames licked up its side, and it screamed. Asuka killed her beam and snapped her stick back as the others did. The now flaming mass of enraged confection reared up, gazed down at the small structure in front of it, and stomped through its roof, tearing its way towards the building.

"Well," said Asuka. "That was a bust. Any other ideas?"

"Cross the streams," said Rei.

"What?"

"Cross the streams," Shinji said nervously, looking around.

"You said that was bad," said Asuka.

"The door swings both ways. We could reverse the particle flow through the gate."

"You made that up."

"Yes, but I can't think of anything else."

Pen-Pen was starting to climb the building. Waves of heat rolled up the side, shattering the windows. Asuka stumbled backward as the giant roared again, shaking the ground under their feet. She turned, setting her jaw, and walked back in front of the gate. The others lined up beside her.

"You guys don't pay me enough for this," said Toji.

Asuka sighed. "If we live, you get a raise. See you on the other side, Rei."

"Doctor Soryu," said Rei.

She looked at Shinji.

She kissed Shinji. "I'd hold hands, but I'm busy."

He nodded, shakily, and fired his beam into the gate. Asuka, Rei, and Toji joined him. Sighing, she swept her beam over to meet his. They met, twisted, and the stick bucked in her hands, trying to yank itself free. The doubled stream met the others and they twisted together, nearly yanking her off her feet. It swept around the inside of the temple. There was a light building up inside, some sort of force rolling them back.

The giant marshmallow penguin peeked up over the edge of the roof. Asuka burst out laughing. The world went white, and the temple exploded. She rolled off her feet, skidding along the surface of the roof as something hot and sticky slathered over her in a wave. She blacked out, the sticky smell of burned sugar in her nostrils.

When she sat up, she was completely covered in fluffy, sugary goop.

"I've had nightmares like this," she groaned, wiping it from her face. "Is anybody else alive?"

Rei sat up. "I am covered in goo."

Toji sat up next to her. "You can skip the raise if you two start wrestling right now."

"Ugh," said Shinji, stumbling out from behind a stone pylon. He was mostly uncovered. "It's in my hair."

"Oh, shut up," Asuka snapped.

Two toasted forms lay in front of the doors. Asuka got up and stumbled over to them, resting her hand on one. They smelled like burned hair.

"That's a shame. She paid us in advance, before she turned into a bird."

A small coughing sound came from within the burned shape, and a tiny patch of the surface flaked off, tumbling into the air and floating away like ash. Asuka blinked as a pale hand reached through the opening and grasped for air. In a panic, Asuka began beating on the burned remains of the creature with the heel of her hand. It slid loose, exposing an entire arm. The others joined her, and they managed to peel enough of it away for Katsuragi, in a skimpy and heavily stained evening dress, to crawl out and sit in a puddle of marshmallow.

The other thing broke open, and Hyuga managed to crawl out on his own, slipping a little in the gunk. Toji grabbed to keep him from blindly stumbling off the edge of the roof, and helped pull the remnant of the creature's arm off his head.

"The super is going to be pissed," said Hyuga.

There was a flash of light, and a black sphere spiraled into being near the edge of the roof. Asuka spun around, whipping marshmallow goop from her hair as she leveled her proton stick at it, wondering if it would still work when wreathed in fluffy sugar. From the sphere emerged a hulking armored figure in purple and green, tromping through the marshmallow muck. It stopped, and its head scissored open. There was a near perfect duplicate of Shinji inside.

"Uh," said Toji.

"Hi," said the Shinji in the armor, "This is going to sound crazy."

"Try me," said Asuka.

* * *

Marty stumbled through the Doc's lab, cradling his head in his hands. He sat down and looked around in a stupor, blinking. This was all going to be gone. The lab, his house, his parents, his family, Jennifer. Everything he'd done in 1955 was all for nothing. The Doc was pacing around mumbling to himself.

"This is heavy," Marty said.

The Doc rushed to his big, revolving chalkboard, nearly tripping over some gadget that looked like a cross between a toaster oven and an alarm clock. He turned it over and scraped out a long line across the dusty green, then tapped a single point on the line.

"This is our timeline."

"Right," said Marty.

"You traveled from here," he drew a curving line, "to here, from 1985 to 1955."

"I know, Doc, what-"

"So," said the Doc. "What if, when you arrived at this point in the past, instead of altering the timeline, you spawned a new timeline from that point, skewing into an alternate 1985."

He drew a diagonal line from the point marked 1955, and continued it on to the end of the board.

"You mean we're in another univese?"

"Not us," said Brown, shaking his head. "You. When you left your 1985, you returned to a different one- where I knew the Libyans would attack me, where your father is a successful author."

"Wait," said Marty, "does that mean that the old universe is still there? I just didn't come back, or what?"

"Perhaps," said Brown, tapping his chin. He coughed out the chalk dust. "It may be that the original timeline still exists, and in it, I was killed and you simply vanished, never to return. Or it may be that the changes you made in 1955 caused that timeline to become unstable, and disappear-"

"You mean when the pictures faded out."

Brown wheeled on him. "Exactly. Your actions erased the original universe, and when you arranged for your parents to meet in a different way, under different circumstances, a new universe sprang into being in which you and the DeLorean could continue to exist. When you returned here, the new timeline effectively replaced the old one."

"Great Scott," Marty mumbled.

"I know, this is heavy," said Brown.

"So what the hell is wrong with the future?"

"Something changed it, and something keeps changing it, producing a new timeline each time I traveled forward in the DeLorean."

"What about the papers, though," said Marty, grabbing on off a workbench. "They're still here. Shouldn't they have changed or faded out or something?"

"Unless…" said Brown.

"Unless what, Doc?"

Doc Brown assaulted the chalkboard, drawing a flurry of lines.

"Some theories postulate the existence of infinite parallel universes, all inaccessible to each other. I have a hypothesis."

"Let's hear it," said Marty, thrusting his hands in his pockets. He looked at the board in confusion. "All I see is lines."

"These are timelines, parallel worlds. The reason you were able to survive long enough to create a universe where you still exist is because the universe became a stable loop of causality," he drew a curved line intersecting 1985 and 1955. "The universe wouldn't allow the you and the DeLorean to simply pop into existence in 1955, you have to have a point of origin. The universe stabilized itself by correctively regenerating a new timeline, where your actions had a discrete causality."

Marty stared at him blankly. "English, Doc."

"The reason you traveled from 1955 into this 1985 and not some other one is because of probability. These universes are separated from each other by a wall of improbability. You can't travel from one to the other simply because your appearance is unlikely there."

"So?" said Marty.

"So somewhere out here is a universe where that," he pointed to the papers, "has happened, and it's becoming more and more probable. It's leaking into other worlds, into other realities, and because the probability of that outcome has become so high, every time we collapse the waveform by traveling into the future, the disaster expresses itself as the most likely result."

"Waveform? What the hell are you talking about?"

Doc put the chalk on the board and stepped back. "Schroedinger's cat. It's a thought experiment. You put a cat in a box with a beaker of acid and a radioactive isotope. With the box closed, there's an equal chance that the cat is alive or dead. Which one is it?"

"I don't know," said Marty. "I guess you'd have to-"

"Open it, exactly," said Brown, "but until you do open it, the cat is both alive and dead. When the box is opened, its waveform collapses into an either-or state, and you find a live cat or a dead cat and poison gas."

"I don't get it,"

"The point is, when you open the box, you create two parallel universes, because the outcomes are equally likely. If we took a trip in the time machine to a point after you opened the box, the outcome would be random for us, but it might change."

"I'm getting a headache," said Marty. "If that's true, why isn't every little thing different every time you time travel? There's lots of things that are either-or."

"You would think," said Brown, poking the air with his finger for emphasis. "But every event we experience is part of a complex web of probabilities. This present exists as the future for your 1955 self because it's the most likely outcome of that series of events. The first time I went into the future, the most likely outcome was the one described in that paper, with your son in jail and the world carrying on as normal. The world with the red oceans was always a possible outcome, but a highly unlikely one. It has now become the only outcome."

Marty threw his hands up. "What the hell does that mean."

Brown turned and looked at the board. He plucked a chalk from the tray, and drew curves from the tips of his lines, converging towards a central point.

"The same outcome is becoming more likely in different universes. Ours probably isn't the only one. They converge into a single point that contains every point, somewhere in the eleventh dimension."

Marty stared at the board. "The what dimension?"

"The eleventh dimension," said Brown. He erased his lines, leaving a great white smudge on the board. "Is the highest possible spatial dimension. It encompasses all possible realities."

"Doc, Doc, you're losing me, man. What in the hell are we going to do here?"

"I have no idea," he confessed, dropping the chalk. "We could try to stop the disaster somehow…"

Marty picked up the paper. "Doc, we're talking about a meteor strike in Antarctica. What the hell are we going to do about that?"

Brown pushed a pile of junk off a chair and flopped down in it, rubbing his temples with his fingers. "I don't know. We could warn the government."

"You and me are going to go into a government office," said Marty, "and tell them we traveled into the future and saw that a meteor is going to hit Antarctica. In your time machine. Which is a DeLorean. Come on, Doc, that's crazy."

"There must be something we can do," said Brown. "We must be able to stop it somehow, change something. Even a small change could…"

Brown trailed off. Lights shone through the windows, and there was a snort of a diesel engine outside. He stood up and stormed across his workshop and then outside, his boots crunching on the gravel of the driveway. There was a red cab-over semi tractor sitting outside, along with a dozen other cars- a Porsche, a 240z painted up as a police interceptor, a beaten up old yellow Beetle, all sitting there. Brown looked around nervously. Marty joined him, staring through the windows of the cars.

"Who's driving?" said Marty.

Marty jumped, and the Doc stumbled backwards, letting out a girlish scream. The semi trailer rumbled forward, bellowed a strange, five-note chord, and unfolded. It thrust a pair of arms out to its sides and its runners folded like knees, and it stood up, towering over them. A head emerged as a series of pieces from the top of the cab. It knelt down, leaning on one knee, every movement a chorus of grinding joints and whining servos.

"Doctor Emmet Brown. My name is Optimus Prime."

The Doc, of course, fainted. Marty struggled to hold him up, managing to lower him to the ground and pull his jacket up behind his head.

"Sorry!"

Marty wheeled. Someone was running up to them in some sort of armored suit. He would have looked huge in it, but for the giant robot standing next to him. His helmet was open and there was a normal human face inside, Japanese by the looks of it, but he spoke perfect English. Marty shook Brown by the shoulders until he sat up, blinked, and promptly fell backwards onto the dirt again.

"Come on, Doc," said Marty, shaking him.

Brown came around again.

"Great Scott."

Marty blinked. It looked like the armor guy was one of a set of triplets. One of them was pretty ragged looking, and he had a gun strapped to his back. There was a girl with him, and her hair was blue, all the way down to the roots. Marty swallowed and helped the Doc onto his feet. The other one was wearing some kind of brown coveralls. He had another guy with him, and two women- a perfect twin of the blue haired lady, but slightly older, her hair a more natural platinum blonde, or so he thought, until he looked at her red eyes and realized she was an albino. The other walked with an arrogant swagger, her blazing red hair poofed up on her head. Marty realized he was staring.

"Let's see you get five gallons of liquid marshmallow out of your hair," she snapped.

"Who the hell are you people?" said Marty. He looked around. "Let me guess. You're from a parallel universe."

"Yes, that's right," said Shinji. "How-"

"How did you get here?" said Brown, rushing to him. "Tell me everything."

"I'm really not sure," said the armored figure. "I didn't invent this thing, I just drive it."

Brown looked disappointed.

"I'm here to ask you to join us. I've been sent by yellow aliens to recruit people to help fight an army of monsters that's going to collapse reality. Or something."

"Aliens?" said Brown.

"I guess. They weren't exactly big on explanations."

Brown looked at Marty. "Let's get the car."

"Good. I have one more stop to make." He looked up at the towering red robot. "I think I'm only going to need you for this one."

* * *

Optimus Primal took slow, measured steps through the Predacon base, swinging his arm-mounted launchers to cover corners and corridors. He stopped, scanning for activity. The base had gone dark, and there had been no Predacon activity, anywhere, on the entire planet, for the last eighteen megacycles. He stopped at the door ahead and motioned forward.

"Rattrap," he whispered.

Rattrap edged forward in beast mode, in the form of an immensely oversized, curiously intelligent looking rattus rattus, until he murmured the command word, his bestial shell unfolded, and he stood up. He knelt at the control panel beside the door and extracted a set of highly specific and illegal tools he carried, integrated into his frame. It took him less than a cycle to unlock the door. Without power, the two Maximals had to loudly shove the doors open. Cool air from Megatron's sanctuary rushed through the opening, but no sounds or signals.

Primal walked out into Megatron's command center. Everything was smashed. The r-chamber, computer, even the display screens were destroyed. Rattrap looked around and, in his usual fashion, whistled loudly. Primal gave him a hard look.

"What?" he shrugged. "There's nobody here."

"I know," said Primal. "That's what's bothering me. Where would they have gone?"

Rattrap shrugged. "Rhinox says they're not showing up on any scans."

"It makes no sense," said Primal, touching Megatron's control interface. "Why would they just abandon their base? They can't survive indefinitely outside any more than we can."

"I didn't say it makes any sense," said Rattrap. "We better get out of here. This smells like a trap."

Primal's radio crackled. "Cheetor to Optimus."

"What is it?"

"It's… complicated. You'd better get back here. We have visitors."

* * *

Shinji walked through the assembly, stripped out of his armor into his undersuit. He looked around, trying not to gaze into the color-of-blindness sky or the enormous tree rising over their heads and the strange tongues whispered by the creaking of her branches. The formerly empty chamber was alive, bustling with activity.

Doc Brown, the "Ghostbuster" Rei, the Autobot called Perceptor, and the Maximal Rhinox were gathered around a chalkboard, arguing about something that involved a great deal of math. Shinji the Hunter was cleaning his weapon, speaking quietly about something with the Autobots Prowl and Ironhide. A knot of the others were standing around the DeLorean. Shinji moved to the gathering of scientists, listening in on their conversation.

"This theory is preposterous," said Perceptor, pointing at the chalkboard with a finger as big as Brown's torso.

"When all other possibilities are eliminated," said Brown, "whatever remains must be the truth. If we can jump between timelines, we should be able to arrive at any point, but there is a distinct correlation between…"

The older, platinum haired Rei turned to him. "We have a problem."

"What?" said Shinji.

"The jump drive in your suit is not capable of transporting this entire group."

"The Aliens said they had something planned for that," said Shinji.

Rei nodded and turned back to the conversation. Shinji left them alone. He spotted his shotgun-wielding doppleganger. The Hunter gazed across the open space of the Great Atrium at the Ghostbuster Shinji and Asuka, sharing a quiet moment away from the others. They whispered something, their foreheads touching. The Hunter turned away, his Rei slipping her arm around him in a sisterly hug, but he stared at the floor, and the two Autobots went silent.

Shinji approached him. The Hunter excused himself from the machines and joined him, walking across the Atrium.

"I saw her," said Shinji.

"I know," said the Hunter.

"There's others," said Shinji. "They took my Asuka, too."

"Did you… have feelings for her?"

Shinji nodded. "Of course. How could I not? It wasn't what she wanted. I respect her, admire her, even, but it wasn't like that. I was too close to Misato."

"You mentioned her before," said the Hunter. "I wish I'd had a chance to know her. She might not even have existed on my world."

Shinji nodded.

"I was wondering," said the Hunter. "I think I know why they picked us, you and me, first. We've got nothing to lose."

"Don't say that," said Shinji.

The Hunter barked a sharp, sad laugh. "What am I supposed to go back to, a dead world full of walking corpses? My life is over. I've been a dead man ever since that thing got into Asuka. I just haven't had the time to lay down yet."

Shinji looked back over his shoulder. "What were you talking about?"

"War stories."

A hush fell over the vastness of the chamber. The Yellow Aliens simply appeared, arriving in a tight circle around the miniature tree in the crystal dome. Shinji approached them. Optimus and… Optimus joined him, as did Asuka the Ghostbuster and Marty McFly, the others gathering around behind them.

"We have seen to your requirements for transportation," said the first alien.

"We acquired it from the end of its timeline, where it would not be missed."

"We have retrofitted it, improved its function, and adapted it to your specific needs."

"Where is it?" said Shinji.

The Aliens looked up. So did everyone else.

"Well," said Toji the Ghostbuster, scratching his head. "How about that."

The chamber filled with murmurs. There was a ship hovering over their heads. An enormous ship, nearly a mile long, heavy and ponderous. One end was shaped roughly like the wide head of an adder, or less elegantly, like a great shovel. Two long pods were slung under her belly on either side, and the aft sections consisted of five huge engines. It simply appeared in the air, casting now shadow, slowly and silently drifting from side to side.

"What is it?" Shinji said softly.

"The Battlestar _Galactica_," said the first alien.

"You must board her immediately," said the second alien.

"The enemy is moving," said the third alien.

Behind them, there was a low rumbling sound, and vibrations rumbled through the floor under his feet. The Tree was moaning.

* * *

You have been reading

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

Chapter Two: The Calm Before the Storm

_And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?_

* * *

The Strategium of the _Shikinami_.

Iquarius leaned over the great table, maps spread out under his gaze. God-Shinji stood at his side, his arms folded behind his back, ethereal, angelic, somehow out of phase with the world around him. Towering over even the Primarch, Megatron observed, marking the most energy-rich locations on the map. Laserbeak and Ravage had just returned with a wealth of data.

"These Mutants," the Primarch boomed, "may pose a threat to us."

Suzahara stepped forward. "Nothing can stand before the might of the Second Legion."

"Indeed," said the Primarch. "Muster the Great Companies for the assault."

"Which ones, my Lord?"

"All of them."

Suzahara's good eye widened. "As you command."

"Order the tech-magi to prepare my battle plate. I will lead this invasion personally."

The First Captain of the Second Legion bowed, turned, and left, letting the great oaken doors bang closed behind him.

"There is the other matter," said the Primarch, laying out the image the Decepticon Laserbeak had recovered. "They have active Evangelions."

"I will deal with that," said the God-Shinji. "Their weapons will only increase my might."

"Sorcerers," said the Primarch, "Mutants. Xenos. This one may trouble us, this 'von Doom'. Taking this Tokyo-3 will require our combined effort. orbital strikes will precede the assault. We will destroy the Mass Production Series with a lance strike here and direct Berserker squads against the political and military leadership. The resistance will be crippled in the first few hours. They will likely do more damage to each other than to us. It is this that concerns me."

The Primarch tossed a single pict on top of the others, a vanishingly tiny thing, a hammer in low orbit, just outside the atmosphere.

God-Shinji touched the image.

"Whosoever lifts this hammer, if he be worthy…" He smiled, though it did not touch his crimson eyes. "Who could be more worthy than I?"

"Who indeed," said the Primarch, warily.


	3. Blood and Thunder

Author's Note:

In this update we begin in the universe of _NGE: Valkyrie_, the Eva/Marvel fusion I started last fall but haven't updated for some time. If you came here from there, just Ctrl+F "I will speak to you now" to jump down to where this chapter picks up from that update.

* * *

_Previously on_

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

**Shinji** Ikari, pilot of Mobile Suit Evangelion Unit 1 awoke to a living nightmare. His world was invaded, its people put to the sword, and the skies set aflame by an army of darkness led by... himself.

Outgunned, outnumber, and trapped aboard the hellish Astartes Battle Barge _Shikinami_, the flagship of the **Crimson Vengeance**, the Legiones Astartes Second Legion led by the Primarch **Iquarius **and his sinister allies, Shinji was forced to flee when his suit's onboard computer triggered an experimental hyperspace jump drive that carried him out of his native universe...

...and into a hostile realm dominated by monstrous aliens that overran the world and destroyed Nerv. Again forced to flee, he jumped without first supplying a destination and found himself in the strange, otherworldly realm of the **Yellow Aliens** and their Great Atrium that houses Yggdrasil, the World Tree. The Aliens charged Shinji with a vital mission: Gather an army of heroes and defeat **The Adversary**, the alternate version of himself who started the war and now threatens to unravel all of space and time in his mad quest to achieve his sinister ends, whatever they may be.

Meanwhile, **Emmett Brown** and **Marty McFly** found their universe thrown into chaos as a terrifying event in their future began cascading backwards through time, threatening to consume them as the entire multiverse begins to skew towards a single disaster- Third Impact.

**Asuka,** a native of Iron Shinji's universe, was unable to escape and fell into the sinister clutches of the Primarch, whose mad goal requires him to collect Asukas from across the multiverse... and he has a particular interest in _her._

To have any chance in defeating his foes, Shinji gathered the **Autobots, Maximals, **and a team of professional paranormal eliminators, who were strange, otherworldly variants of the people he knew from his own life. In addition he gathered an alternate universe version of himself known as **the Hunter**, from a strange and disturbing world overrun by the living dead.

The assembled heroes quickly found themselves charged with the task of leaping headlong into an invasion of the universe known as **Neon Genesis Evangelion: Valkyrie**, a world in turmoil fused with the Marvel Universe.

* * *

Of all of them, it was only she who was free, and yet every breath of air held the tang of a dank cell, and every wall may as well have been bars. Her black dress uniform may as well have been prison stripes, and as Asuka walked and saw judging eyes laying her soul bare, she felt as guilty as she ever had in her life. It was the uniform that drew some of the looks, and her hair, now tightly braided behind her head. In her black dress fatigues and high boots, her uniform adorned with the insignia of the Latverian high command, medals on her chest and the personal seal of von Doom hanging from a red ribbon around her throat, she was as much an alien to these people as the uniformed soldiers riding down the street on a half-track, gazing about grimly.

She wished desperately that she might run away, but there was nowhere to go.

Once, in a time of confusion, she had walked these streets and found succor in the strange freedom these people were allowed. Now she found all of that gone. She walked to the newsstand, where she'd read a magazine accusing her illustrious father of depravity and cruelty, images that mocked von Doom and proclaimed the Latverian hegemony over Europe a cruel tyranny, accusing him of genocide and violence, of mad obsession that led people to starve while his resources went to weapons of war. At the time she hadn't believed it, at the time she had been sure, but she marveled at it all the same. Now she stood in front of that same magazine stand. The counter was smashed to bits, the empty shelves torn down from the brick wall where they'd stood. As she turned she glimpsed the old man who'd run the shop. He said nothing, but nothing needed to be said. It was as plain in his eyes as would be if it screamed in her face.

_You did this to me._

She tried to stand proud, but failed. Every eye that fell on her was full of reproach, and behind them all she saw Shinji's face as his hands were bound behind his back, the tears that flowed down his cheeks as he turned away from her, his gaze sinking to the floor. They were all imprisoned down below, in the Geofront.

She stopped in her walking. A crudely chalked image -a spider's web- was drawn on the brick. They weren't all imprisoned. Asuka stopped to brush the chalk away with the thumb of her glove and kept walking, glad that heat never touched her. It was sweltering in Tokyo-3, and the other Latverians were all sweating like mad and tugging at their collars. As she passed, they stopped and bowed until she motioned for them to stand. The attention earned her more recriminating looks from the people. If they were bowing and scraping before a redheaded girl, it was obvious who she must be. She hurried through the throng, feeling a prickling sickness in her stomach at the ease with which they accommodated her passing- hoping she would go away.

The library. She headed for the library. She had her library card in her pocket. The kind woman at the desk had given it to her, with her name and picture on it. When she turned the corner, she froze. She should have known. A knot of black-clad Latverians stood before the library doors. They'd already mounted cameras on the walls, facing the door, to capture entrants from every angle. She jogged up the steps, ignoring them as they knelt and whispered "Your grace". She pushed through the doors.

The kindly woman was gone. The front desk was shuttered. All of the computers had been removed, leaving the desks bare, festooned with cut cables like gray stubble. She walked through the silent structure until she entered the stacks of books, books upon books, only to find that most of them had been removed. Those that remained where Latverian approved texts, endless stacks of the same two or three books spread out on the shelves. She sniffed a little and in her minds eye she saw Shinji again.

She didn't go back out through the front door. She ran to the back of the library, knowing she was on camera, not caring. She pushed through the doors at the rear of the stacks and into the service area behind, where some of the old books still sat on carts, bound together with lengths of tape. They would be taken away, thrown into great macerating machines, and their remnants incinerated. There would be no more history, or philosophy, or any form of the written word that contradicted Doom. She sighed and went out the back door of the library, ducking into a small alley.

She tensed when she felt something looking down at her, and turned around.

Hikari lowered herself on a silvery strand of web, hanging upside down with it clasped in her hands and fed through her feet. She'd hacked off her pigtails and her short hair was a tangled mess. Her cheeks looked raw, as from tears, and her eyes were bloodshot. She sank down until she was hanging by her thread a few feet away from Asuka. She had a backpack tightly cinched to her body and secured around her waist with a belt, and a few odd and ends in pouches tied to the legs of her track suit.

"You," said Hikari.

Asuka faced her. "Fighting me is hopeless. I can incinerate you with a gesture."

"Maybe," said Hikari, cocking her head, "What about him?"

Toji stepped out from the end of the alleyway and stalked forward, slapping his palm into his fist. Asuka tensed, taking her lower lip under her teeth. His gifts made him unique. He would stride through the fire and through he was no stronger than an ordinary boy, she would be helpless to stop him, and once he had a hold of her she would have no hope of escape.

"What do you want?"

"Shinji," said Hikari. "I want him freed, I want the others released."

Asuka looked at the ground "I put my life on the line for him. I did not wish to see him imprisoned. I have no authority to-"

"The _hell _with authority," Hikari snapped, dropping into a crouch. She stood up and pointed her finger at Asuka's chest. "You have the power to fight back. You can do things no one else can."

"I am powerful," she said, hugging herself, "but no one is a match for von Doom, and he is my father…"

"Is he?" said Hikari. "Last I heard, you were adopted."

"He _is_ my father. He raised me. I have known no one else. You would ask me to betray that?"

"If you have to," said Hikari. "We can take him together, if we free the others."

"You don't _understand," _Asuka snapped, blinking away tears. "He is _my father." _

"I understand one thing," said Hikari. "With great power comes great responsibility. We're going to do this with you, or without you."

"I'll warn him," Asuka snapped, spitefully. "I'll ruin your plans. He brings peace and order and stability, and he'll destroy the angels and set us all free. The world will be a better place and when he's gone, I'll follow after him and rule over a golden age that will last a thousand years."

"A thousand years," said Hikari. "I'd tell you to look into the other golden age that was going to last a thousand years, but some jack booted thugs stole our library. Do what you have to do, Asuka. I don't give a damn about you, but Shinji believed in you. He believed enough to choose you over me."

She turned. Toji had vanished, slipping around the corner. When she turned back, she caught a glimpse of Hikari swinging up, kicking her feet out for momentum. Asuka waited until she was gone, folded her arms under her chest, and walked out of the alley with her head down.

* * *

A comfortable prison is still a prison. Shinji had spent the last… he'd lost track of the time. It had to be more than a week, he was sure. He was totally isolated from the outside world, and the inhibitor collar was back around his neck. He tugged at it, thought better of it, and folded his hands on his chest. He had a cot with a thick mattress, but otherwise this chamber was totally blank and white, walls, ceiling, even the combined toilet and sink in the corner. In a fit of what was no doubt hilarious humor, someone had left a copy of von Doom's purported autobiography lying on top of the sink. He'd very carefully torn up the first one and flushed it down the toilet, but when he awoke, there was a new one in its place.

He closed his eyes. He didn't need to tap into his mutant ability, his innate connection to the electromagnetic field, to use sorcery. The problem was, whenever he tried to still himself, a speaker lowered out of the ceiling and began blaring high-pitched, autotuned pop music. If he managed to fall asleep, it stopped, but if he attempted to meditate, the volume would only increase. This time, he set his jaw and focused.

Or rather, he tried to focus. His mind was a roiling vortex of feelings and thoughts, surging through him and devastating his calm. So much had happened, and in less than a day. Everything had gone to hell. Rei was gone. He refused to think of her as dead, she was simply missing. There was more to her than a simple explosion could destroy, he was sure of it. Toji wasn't. Shinji had always been afraid of his abilities, a little scared of what he might do if he lost control of himself. One look at Central Dogma would show exactly what a teenage girl with the proportionate speed, agility, and strength of a spider and a teenage boy with the power to increase his personal gravitational pull could do.

Despite it all, though, they'd been forced to flee while Shinji and the others had been collared. He didn't know where they took Kensuke and the other student, if they were in similar cells or deeper in the bowels of the facility, in Nathaniel Essex' labs. Unable to concentrate, he got up and paced, folding his hands behind his back. The speaker withdrew and he was left in silence to walk the short length of the cell.

The one image in his mind he couldn't shake was Asuka standing between them, placed between Doom and Fuyutsuki and the technicians and the children, and the look when she without hesitation walked to stand at his side, primly standing at attention while the armored tyrant lectured them on their subservience to the will of Doom.

Even with the collar on, Shinji had his training. Steven Strange had been speaking with him in his dreams, grooming him and nurturing his affinity with energy into a talent for the arcane. Doom was as close to Strange's equal as Shinji could imagine, a burning star next to Shinji's sputtering candle. When he tried to draw on himself to form a spell, Doom simply flicked it out of his mind, crushed him utterly with a thought. His mastery of the occult arts was so total, he could form spells purely through mental discipline, not even needing to speak. Where Shinji was sloppy, needing help and direction, Doom was an artist. The fight was over so fast, no one but the two of them saw it happen.

She could have done something. All she had to do was touch him and let him draw on her fire, and _nothing_ could stop him. He ran his fingers down the wall of his prison, curled them into a fist, and feebly struck the smooth metal. He had to do something, he had to get out. The image of Asuka's face floated in his mind again, the way her lips tightened and her eyes went hard when that clanking monstrosity entered the room. She had a cruelty in her he'd never seen before, hidden under layers of confusion and her peculiar, defensive arrogance. He leaned his head on the wall and wondered how he could be so stupid.

Pacing back to the cot, he sat down on it and closed his eyes. The speaker immediately dropped down and started blasting Britney Spears in his ears. He flicked his eyes open in annoyance and stared at it until it slid back up. He was so tired he probably could have slept. He just wanted to rip the damned thing out of the wall and smash it. If he could only use his powers, he could crush it with a gesture, barely a thought. He fell back on the bed.

The speaker dropped down again. He opened his eyes halfway, trying to tune out the music. That wasn't working, either. There had to be something he could do. He realized he needed to use the toilet and almost sat up but froze instead, his eyes lidded. It might work, if he was fast enough. He closed his eyes and furrowed his brows in concentration. The volume increased.

He jumped for it. Pushing from the bed, he darted across the room, put one foot on the toilet, and reached up for the speaker. He slapped both hands on its sides, pushing them together as hard as he could. He grunted as he swung from it his legs dangling in the air. The motor couldn't be strong enough to lift him, too. He heard it grinding.

His body went rigid. He lost control of his muscles as the speaker housing sparked and buzzed. His teeth clicked closed so hard it hurt, and his legs quivered in the air. The speaker itself blew out. When it was over, he lost his grip and fell hard to the floor, stumbling onto the ground. His head hit the floor with a sharp crack and his vision swam.

The ruined speaker drew up into the ceiling. Another, identical one lowered in its place. This time, it was louder.

* * *

Rei's eyes fluttered open and the sickness was on her. She pressed her teeth closed and grimaced, trying desperately not to vomit into the LCL that surrounded her in the extraction cylinder. Half-lidded, her eyes flickered back and forth as the last few days flashed involuntarily by her eyes. The angel attack, Essex' capture of the students, breaking into Nerv. Toji shouting her name as the fire came, flash boiling away the inside of the entry plug, followed by her skin. She struggled in the tube, beating her fists against it, and felt it crack under her knuckles. The fluid drained, and cold air rushed over her. Someone laid a towel over her body, covering her as she curled into the fetal position.

"Is the procedure always this traumatic?"

She looked up and saw a man in a metal mask, towering over her. Doctor Akagi moved beside her. Her shoulders were pulled in and her wings hung around her, jutting through two holes torn in the back of her labcoat. She put an arm around Rei's shoulders and lifted her up, cradling the girl against her chest.

"I don't know. I've never done this before. Ikari handled it."

"I am alive," Rei whispered, drawing the towel around herself.

Shaking, she stood up, leaning on Akagi for support. Doom loomed over them impassively, his dark green cloak swathed around his armor. He turned to examine the clone tank and the spare bodies residing within, floating through chilled LCL with looks of dull anger on their faces, lips drawn back from razor fangs, red eyes wide. Rei turned away from them.

"How much do you remember?" said Akagi.

"I… I was to go dancing."

"Will she be able to pilot?" said Doom.

Akagi gave him the briefest flash of a hard look, then stared at the floor. "Yes… _my Lord._ She should be able to, but Unit One is… difficult."

"Irrelevant," said Doom. "See her to the infirmary and have her ready for a synchronization test in one hour."

The iron giant turned and stomped out of the room, disappearing into the elevator, leaving her alone with Akagi. Rei was able to stand now, and able to feel the cold stone floor sucking the heat out of the soles of her feet. She was hungry, and this close to Akagi, she could smell the older woman's fear and her _blood_, pumping through her veins. Her jugular was so close, she could-

"I almost wish you would," said Akagi.

Rei shuddered. She took a few steps more, and was able to walk on her own. Akagi guided her out of the lab and helped her sit down on an exam table and pulled a robe around her, and then put a cooler marked with a red cross on the table beside her. From inside, she drew a plastic bag full of chilled whole blood and held it out. Rei snatched it from her hand, put the foul tasting plastic in her mouth, and sunk her fangs into it. It was cold and tasted foul and rusty, but it spilled down her throat and over her chin and she fell onto her side, curling up into a ball as she drained it and let the empty bag slap onto the floor.

Akagi shied away from her.

"I am safe," said Rei.

Akagi touched her forehead. "You're cold."

"I am always cold. What is happening?"

"Terrible things," said Akagi. "The Commander is dead. Most of the command staff and the children are locked up in the brig. They have Shinji in solitary confinement. Doom took over Essex's labs. I haven't heard from Katsuragi."

Grunting, Rei sat up. She felt stronger now, more focused. "I am to pilot Unit One."

"Yes. Doom wanted to use the dummy system, but it isn't ready. You'll have to do."

"I am not sure that I can."

"There's only one way to find out."

"I want to see Shinji."

"I don't think that will be possible," Akagi sighed.

Rei wilted. "I see. Is Suzahara here?"

"Who… oh, that boy. No, he fled, along with some of the others. I don't know where he is. You probably don't want to ask," said Akagi, pointedly glancing at the clone tank. "It's best to cooperate."

"I see," said Rei, though her gaze did not rise from the floor.

* * *

She could kill them all, but she waited. It whispers in her head, daring her to give in to her urges, to feed, to pin poor Maya down and… it whispers in her head. Misato clung to the underside of the roof, wreathed in the creature's undulating, fibrous body. It was a simple matter to camouflage herself, to imitate the backdrop so seamless she disappeared into it. She crawled along with the patrol of Latverians, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as she tracked their movement. She was waiting for one of them to give her an opportunity.

At last, one of them peeled off from the rest, shouldering his automatic rifle. Misato crept down the wall, hanging invisible over his head. When he was out of sight of the others, she dropped down behind him and clamped her hand over his mouth, pulled him close, and raised her hand over her head, drawing her fingers into a fist. The symbiote fired a thin streamer of webbing at the corner of the roof overhead, and she drew herself up, carrying the Latverian with her.

She let the symbiote resume its normal color, and willed it to peel back from her face. She ran her tongue over the sharp points of her teeth, left behind even when it pulled back. Her hair, inundated with the fluid mass of the symbiot's body, lifted and coiled behind her head, like serpents on a gorgon. She picked up the Latverian's rifle, looked at it with contempt, and crumbled it in half with one hand before tossing it to the side. A quick shot of webbing pinned his hands to the ground, and she crouched over his chest, dangling her sharp talons over his face.

"Let's talk," she rasped, leaning close.

"What are you?"

"Where is Shinji Ikari?"

"I don't know."

"You're lying to us," she rasped, tracing the sharp edge of her talon down his cheek. "We hate liars."

"I don't know, I swear! I know nothing!"

Sneering with contempt, she touched the tips of her fingers to his throat, letting them dig in just enough for tiny spots of blood to well around them.

"Tell. Us."

"_Misato!" _

She looked over her shoulder.

Hikari. She was perched on the corner of the roof, squatting with her hands between her feet. Misato drew back and mimicked her, crouching over her prey. She flexed her fingers, the talons growing longer, and the symbiote drew up around her face, thin tendrils of it surrounding her eyes and mouth.

"Killing him won't help anybody."

She rounded on the soldier. "It'll make us _feel better."_

"Misato," Hikari snapped, edging closer. "Don't make me hurt you."

"Try us," Misato hissed, "you just want the Shinji for yourself! We're not stupid!"

Hikari put her hands up in a gesture of surrender and stood up. "Look, let's all stay calm here and try to hold off on the violence and the talking about ourselves in the second person plural, okay?"

Misato trembled. "I…" she croaked, "We want answers!"

"I have a family!" the soldier whined.

She closed her hands around his throat. "So did we, before you stole them from us!"

"_Misato!" _Hikari shouted, charging across the roof.

The Suzahara boy got to her first. He body-checked Misato off the pinned Latverian, rolled with her, and landed on top of her. She snarled and clawed furiously at his face, but it had no effect. He just closed his eyes and tightened his grip around her. When she got ahold of his wrists, pulling his arms apart was easy, he was no stronger than an ordinary person. When she was nearly free, he did something, squinting in concentration, and it was like a thousand weight fell on her chest, pinning her to the roof. He was only resting his hand on her stomach.

"Don't move," he said sharply. "I can turn it up."

She nodded.

Hikari squatted beside her. "How did you escape?"

Misato closed her eyes and breathed. She felt the creature retreat, and opened them again, looking up into the night sky. "I don't remember. When the old man surrendered, I tried to get to Shinji, but Doom… sonics, they used sonics on us. It hurt. I can't remember, I was outside and… there was _blood. _Oh God, I think I hurt someone."

Hikari sighed. "What did you see? Do you know where they're being held?"

She shook her head. "I had to flee, the sounds, the _sounds, _they _hurt us_."

Toji looked at Hikari. "She's bonkers."

Hikari gave him a sharp look. "Look, I don't like this, but we need your help. Can you… tone that down a little?"

She closed her eyes. It was a less a command than a negotiation, the creature's fury overwhelming her. It was so angry, so filled with hate, and Hikari, she smelled _wrong_. Misato closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she sat up in her uniform. It was mostly her uniform, at any rate. Her skirt was shorter and her sweater tighter and it bared some of her midriff, and her jacket clung to her sides. The Suzahara boy nervously looked away from her, blushing.

"Have you been working out?" said Hikari.

"Pilates," Misato rasped. She gave Suzahara a little shove as he relented and let her stand up.

"What do we do with this guy?" said Hikari, looking down at the Latverian.

"Kill him," said Misato.

"No!" said Suzahara, stepping between them. "You can't do that, he-"

"I'm not crazy," said Misato, fixing her gaze on him. "He's the enemy, he's an enemy soldier. This isn't a comic book, kid. He'd kill you if he could, if he got the chance. He might have put a gun to the head of someone you care about on his last shift. You should have let me finish him off."

"Is that you talking, or that thing?" said Hikari.

Misato glared at her. The symbiote squirmed against her skin, but with a deep breath she held it in check. "Fine, we'll let him live. We should leave. Quickly."

Suzahara put his arm around Hikari's neck as she jumped off the roof and swung from a web line. Misato followed, letting the symbiote relax into a more natural state, clinging to her skin, but she kept her face exposed. Hikari dropped down into an alleyway behind a set of dumpsters and lowered the boy to the ground Misato followed, landing in a crouch.

"What are you planning?"

"Nothing yet," said Hikari. "We need to break in, get past Doom, and get everybody out."

"Impossible," Misato snapped, standing.

"We already did it once."

"Essex was an idiot," said Misato. "Doom is _Doom." _

"I though you were supposed to be smart and stuff," said Suzahara, "aren't you in charge of all the battles and everything? You could help us come up with a plan."

Misato ran her fingers through her hair. Suzahara stared at her chest intently, until Hikari elbowed him.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. "That thing is _tight."_

Misato narrowed her eyes at him, and shook her head.

"Boys," said Hikari.

Misato snorted.

"Well _excuse me_," said Suzahara.

"There must be something they wouldn't think of," said Hikari, pacing. "Some kind of access they'd miss when they secure the base, a way for us to sneak back in."

"We could free the prisoners in Essex's labs," said Misato. "They're dangerous enough that it would provide us with a diversion."

Hikari sighed, leaning on the brick wall. "What about the dinosaurs from that cargo ship? Are they still down there?"

"Probably," said Misato. "The T-Rex is still alive."

Hikari shuddered. "Great, so we get in, and we create a diversion."

"Who else is with us?"

Hikari looked at Misato, and at Suzahara.

"This is it?" said Misato. "Really?"

"Do you have any better ideas?"

She paced. "There might be someone else."

* * *

"I think this is a bad idea," said Toji.

"You think everything is a bad idea," said Hikari.

Misato looked over her shoulder at them, angrily. Toji winced. Hikari bit her lip and glared back, defiant. The three of them crept along the broad drive up the curving hill towards the Stark estate, overlooking the city. Misato raised her hand, but Toji bumped into Hikari before he noticed. The alien thing on Misato was very tight, on her legs and her chest and her lower back and that whole lower back butt type area, and-

Hikari smacked the side of his head. "Focus."

"Right," said Toji.

"Wait here," said Misato.

She took a few steps, and she turned invisible, just like that. The alien moved around her, wrapping around her face, and like a chameleon it shifted colors until it blended in with the scenery, and then the camouflage improved, until she was almost impossible to see. Toji could make out an outline if he squinted, until she moved far enough off, and her movements could have been a breeze or a bird in the bushes. Toji sat down near the gate, and Hikari joined him. She leaned her head back on the low stone wall and closed her eyes.

"I hope my sister is okay," said Toji.

"Same here," said Hikari. "I'm afraid if we call them…"

"It'll be traced or something," said Toji.

"Or put them in danger. We're on our own."

They were quiet for a while.

"Do you think there's any way Rei could have lived?" said Hikari.

"I don't know. She's tough. I saw her get hurt before, but… her Eva _exploded._"

"I'm sorry," said Hikari.

"It didn't have anything to do with you."

"I just…"

Toji grasped desperately for something to change the subject about. "What are you going to do about Shinji?"

"What about him?" Hikari snapped, leaning on her knees.

"Well, um," said Toji, "You were going out and stuff…"

"I ruined that with my big mouth," said Hikari. "My sister didn't like him, and I have a duty to my family."

"You didn't seem so hot on that when she wanted you to stay out of the fight."

Hikari shrugged. "That's different."

"Why?"

She sighed. "I don't _know. _Okay? It just is."

Misato dropped down into a crouch beside them. Toji nearly jumped out of his skin, grabbing Hikari for support. She pushed him off and stood up, and he followed. Misato peered around the corner, up at the house.

"Well?" said Hikari.

"There's no one here."

Hikari slumped and put her hand on her face. "That's just great. Now what do we do?"

"We might be able to sneak in."

Toji stood up, but Misato pushed him back down, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Not you. You're our big gun. You stay out here and watch our backs."

"I am?" said Toji, glancing at Hikari. "You're not going to eat her, are you?"

"No," Misato said drolly. "Come on, kid."

Toji watched them leave. He watched Misato leave, in particular. He stood up and wandered back down along the wide drive a bit, keeping to the hedges. He had a good view of the city from here. He put his foot on a rock and leaned forward, staring out into the collection of bright lights. It was full dark now, and Tokyo-3 was a pulsing dance of light bulbs and headlamps, moving with a steady, easy regularity. It would be hard to see that there was anything amiss.

He heard something coming and ducked behind a bush. A VTOL, one of the big, awkward flyers that Nerv used, was coming in, almost like it was limping. He could hear the engine sputtering, and when he looked closer, he realized there was some kind of robot holding it up, shouldering under the fuselage. It came in low and slow towards the estate and came down with a crunch right on the front yard, the landing gear folding under it. A moment later, the front hatch ground upwards, pushed from the inside. Limping, another robot stepped down out of it. He thought it was a robot, anyway.

It was a girl, he realized, carrying a helmet under her arm. He couldn't tell what she looked like under the armor -it looked rather masculine, actually- but she was pretty, walking in that funny way people do when they're missing their glasses, with long brown hair bound up behind her head. Following her was some guy in a halloween costume, a leather tunic and cape with some kind of big purse hanging around his neck. Toji didn't like the look of him, with his scruffy beard and ponytail. He had some kind of fright mask in one hand.

The robots, or maybe they were suits, too, steadied the downed aircraft and stepped away from it, following them towards the house. Toji stepped out, seizing up with panic. They'd find Hikari and Misato inside. He had to figure out some way to warn them. He scratched his head, looking at the big flyer. Maybe the landing got their attention, but he couldn't be sure. He started running up towards the house, panting. Why couldn't he have super speed, or strength? What the hell good did being able to protect himself do?

He made it to the gate, the open space in the rock wall, and ran through it. Nothing happened, so he kept on up the path. The house was big, low and modern, and had an even better view of Tokyo-3 than the driveway. Toji ran right up to the front door. The others must have gone inside some other way. It didn't have a knob, per se- there was some kind of reader or sensor next to the door, and he wasn't going to mess with that. He walked around the side, looking for a window.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Somewhere, he heard Hikari scream. He ran for the wall full tilt, them stumbled.

Something reached down out of the sky to the East. A beam of light so bright it lit the night sky sliced through the blue, and carved out a purple trail in his vision. He stumbled backwards and landed on his rear end, staring. He heard a commotion in the house and the door opened. The lady in the armor suit, the guy in the costume, Misato and Hikari all tumbled out. Hikari was grabbing her head like someone had punched her, and there was a fine trickle of blood from one of her nostrils. Toji grabbed her and daubed it away with the hem of his shirt.

She shook her head. "I'm okay. I've never felt anything like that before."

"What was it?"

"Spider-Sense," Misato hissed.

"I guess," said Hikari.

"Who the hell-" the lady in the armor started.

The thunder cut her off. It wasn't so much thunder as a blast of wind, a rolling flush of hot air that rolled over them. Toji put his hand on Hikari and the guy in the costume and used his power, rooting them to the spot. The sound drowned out everything, drowned out his own heartbeat, drowned out thought. Misato screamed and her suit-monster-thing went crazy, flopping around in every direction, and Toji let the others go and grabbed her to hold her up. Some dull part of his mind realized that it was dripping off her and she was half naked, but it was crushed down by the raw terror of what he saw on the horizon.

Somewhere in the east, far distant, a mushroom cloud was rising.

* * *

"Hurts," Misato groaned, "Hurts us,"

She slumped against Toji. The thunderclap must have hurt her _friend_, it was halfway off of her. Hikari rushed to her side, slipped her arms under Misato's shoulders and legs, and lifted her up. The guy in the leather cape gave her a weird look, and the Stark woman just blinked, rapidly adjusting. She stomped over to Hikari's side.

"I know her."

"Misato," said leather-cape-man.

"Who are you?" said Hikari.

"Kaji Ryoji," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Everybody inside," said Stark, nudging Hikari's shoulder with her big metal glove.

Hikari didn't need to be told twice. She rushed inside and spread Misato out on the couch. The thing was alive, and already pulling itself together around her. Hikari blinked. There was still an aftermark, a kind of purple scar, on her vision where she'd been looking out the window when whatever that thing was came down.

Stark walked out into the middle of the room. "Jarvis, bring everything up and tell me what the hell just happened."

A cheerful, English-accented voice replied, "At once, Miss Mari."

"Is the back door I installed at Nerv still active?"

"Indeed."

"Get me access, I want to know what's going on down there."

"I'll tell you what's going on," Hikari said, rounding on her. "Doom took over the city, put all of my friends in jail. The ones that are alive, anyway."

Kaji and Stark looked at each other.

"This is _bad_," said Kaji. "Look, there's the international fraternity of criminals, and then there's guys like Doom, or the Red Skull. He's out of my weight class."

"Jarvis, what do you have for me?"

"A great deal of information," said Jarvis. "Presently I am only able to operate at thirty-five percent capacity. A wide frequency jamming signal is disrupting my connection to the mainframe under the mansion in California."

"What kind of interference?" said Mari. "Where's it coming from?"

"Origin unknown, but unlikely to be terrestrial in origin."

"Some kind of satellite?"

"Unknown, but the projected point of origin is well outside even the highest standard orbits. My preliminary calculations indicate that it is somewhere between the Earth and lunar orbit, directly over the Pacific Ocean."

"Great," said Mari. "What the hell was that light in the sky?"

"I have not yet determined its precise origin," said Jarvis. "All communications, including civilian, military, and covert Nerv frequencies, originating from Beijing and the surrounding area have been cut off."

"God," Kaji gasped. "Was it a bomb?"

"Unable to determine. Insufficient data."

Stark paced the room. "Let's get down into the basement. I need to change into a heavier suit."

Groggily, Misato managed to stand up. She fixed her gaze on Mari. "Stark."

"Katsuragi. Look, you and me can work this out later… what the hell are you wearing, anyway?"

"We are Venom now," said Misato.

Kaji gave her a startled look, and edged away. "What?"

"You heard us. Me. Damn it."

A section of the floor lowered, smoothly hissing apart into a broad staircase. Stark lead the way, followed by the others. Hikari brought up the rear, edging close to Misato. She eyed Kaji warily. For some reason Hikari would probably never fathom, her suit or whatever it was rearranged itself. It hung loose from her legs, hanging down around her legs in a loose skirt that was slashed high, almost to her hip, and it withdrew from her shoulders. It looked like a black evening dress, with that weird white spider sigil twisting diagonally across her chest. Kaji looked over his shoulder at her and she turned her nose up at him, almost childishly.

"Hey," Hikari whispered, "What's with the evening gown?"

Misato looked down, and the suit quickly drew back up into its normal shape.

Once they arrived in the basement, Stark stepped up into a sort of ring, and mechanical arms reached for her, unclamping the metal plates that made up her suit and drawing them away from her. In a few moments, she was stripped down to a tight black undersuit. Hikari spotted Toji staring at her hips and elbowed him.

"Jarvis? Have anything for me yet?"

"International communications chatter does not indicate the origin of the explosion in China," said Jarvis. "Please wait."

"What?"

"New data available. Berlin, Doomstadt, Beijing, Las Vegas and New Washington have all been completely destroyed."

Stark stumbled, leaning on a work table. "What?"

"Chatter indicates that the working theory is meteor strikes."

"Like hell," said Misato, "That wasn't a meteor strike, that was some kind of laser or weapon."

"Jarvis," said Mari, "Get me Nick Fury, General Rhodes, anybody that will pick up."

"Connecting."

Stark paced the room. Hikari rubbed at her temples. The buzzing was coming back, what Misato had called the spider-sense.

"We can't stay here," said Hikari.

The adults ignored her. "They wiped out all the capitals. Why would they knock them all out? It makes no sense…" said Kaji.

"Millions of people," said Mari.

Misato cleared her throat. "If Hikari says we're in danger, we're in danger. Trust us. Me. Damn it."

Stark gave her a sharp look, then looked at Hikari. "Okay. Jarvis, what do you have for me?"

"Unable to process request. All communications jammed."

Stark took a deep breath.

"Okay. Load up every file you've got into the Mark X's computers and suit me up. Set everything to fry ten minutes after we're gone, and blow the house. I don't want Doom getting his hands on any of my father's tech."

"I have a final piece of relevant data," said Jarvis. "The origin of the orbital strikes is the same as the origin of the jamming signal. Before communications were cut off entirely, I intercepted a communique from Cheyenne Mountain. Before Norad was destroyed, the strategic radar grid detected large numbers of small objects entering the atmosphere."

Stark swallowed hard. "Meteors?"

"Unlikely. They were slowing down."

* * *

"I will speak to you now."

Shinji's eyes blinked open. He wondered, as he sat up, if some strange fit of madness had not fallen on him, for it was his own voice he heard, echoing in his tiny cell. He drew his legs up and leaned on his knees, blinking. He scrubbed at his eyes- the speaker had shut off some time during the night (or was it day?) and he'd just had what felt like the best night's sleep he'd ever had in his life. He yawned, turned around, and crept up against the wall. He was still unsure of his own sanity. There was someone in the cell with him after all.

He was Shinji's height, and, somehow, he knew, _exactly_ his height. They could have been twins- the same pointed, almost feminine jaw, the same wide face and high cheekbones, but where Shinji's face could be said to be warm, welcoming, here there was only ice. The intruder's skin was pale, like white gold, and his eyes were dark crimson, the color of blood from a deep wound. He wore only a gleaming white cloth draped over his shoulder and wrapped around his waist, and the casual, easy way he folded his forearms together behind his back tightened the powerful muscles that framed his chest and shoulders. His hair was the color of polished steel, and hung past his neck.

"Who are you?" said Shinji.

The intruder's flat expression twisted slightly into a thin smirk. "I am all that you could be, if you embrace your true nature."

Shinji shook his head and scrubbed his fingers through his hair. "How did you get in here?"

"No door is closed to me," said the intruder. "No wall can stop me, no barrier can hold me, not even the light of the soul, the sacred space that no man may enter."

"I don't understand," said Shinji. "Who are you?" he repeated. He realized that though his collar was still on, the speaker was out of commission, and he was rested. Focus came to him quickly. The words were on the edge of his tongue.

The stranger stepped forward. "I was like you, once. Weak, confused. I thought silly things were the most important things, like my so-called _relationship _with my father. Like all men, I believed in my heart that human beings could understand one another."

He loomed closer, seeming taller now. Shinji fell back on the cot, looking up at him.

"Which one is it that torments you? I might be called lucky, perhaps. I had them all, even Misato. No, you're a one woman sort of Shinji. So, which one?"

He furrowed his brows. Shinji felt a prickling sensation, like something moving across his skin.

"Not Rei, no, you see her as a sister," he rolled his tongue in his mouth, as if sampling a flavor, "Asuka, I think, _inflames_ you," he smirked at some secret joke, "but the desire is more physical, and I admit I can see why. No, you're not like most of us. You see the secret inner shape of things, you recognize true kindness when you see it… Hikari is the one you want."

Shinji sputtered. "I… I don't…"

"Yes," the stranger whispered, leaning close, "And she _rejected _you, turned you away. I can fix that. I can change that. I offer you all that you desire and more," he raised his hand and closed it into a fist, "anything you want."

"No," Shinji snapped, crawling along the wall, pushing himself away from the stranger. "No, I won't. You can't control people's minds, that's _evil." _

"Evil," the stranger said softly, "Is just a word, Shinji. I am the path to reality. I am the bridge between man, and what is beyond man. I am what you could be if you exercise the will to bring the world to your heel, to stop pretending you are so much less than you are."

He stood up. "Whatever you're selling, I don't want any. I don't know what you are, and I don't care. Get out."

"Admirable," said the intruder, "but ultimately futile. There might yet be a place for you. You're angrier than you allow yourself to believe." He turned, as if he meant to walk right through the door. "Farewell, Shinji. Perhaps when my victory is complete and your world is a barren cinder will you see the truth."

Shinji didn't speak. He marshalled his will, raised his hands in the ancient sign, and poured all his strength into his voice. "_By the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak!" _

Pure force swirled around the intruder. Linking tightly around him there formed bands of burnished metal, binding his legs and arms, squeezing him tightly. The metal hardened and fixed him in place, crushing him down as Shinji closed his hands.

"You're not going anywhere."

"I beg to differ," said the intruder, and flexed his arms. The bands strained, groaned with a whine of shrieking metal, and simply came apart, breaking into luminescent crimson shards. The force of his spell doubling back on him threw Shinji back into the wall and he yelped from the impact, then slid down to the floor.

"I see now that is where you belong," the intruder sneered. "What could have been freely given, I will simply take. Goodbye, Shinji."

He turned. The cell door unlocked with a heavy clang and drew back. Standing beyond it, framed by it, was the iron-masked visage of Victor von Doom, so immense the universe didn't seem to have room for him. He strode forward until the blocked the door entirely, the black grimace of his mask staring down at the intruder. He folded his huge arms over his chest, his armor making fine mechanical sounds, and stared down.

"This world belongs to _Doom_. Answer for yourself or taste oblivion."

"Bold words," said the intruder, "from a hoary fiction. Die."

The intruder didn't lift a finger, didn't even gesture. Despite the dull ache in the back of his head, Shinji felt only the swirling currents of the arcane around Doom as he prepared some spell, marshaling the hidden forces through thought alone. The intruder was only a cold void, an emptiness in the world that sung like a howling wind. Shinji saw Doom's eyes widen with uncharacteristic shock as the great mass of the metal giant lifted up, as though carried in a blasting gale, and sailed across the hallway. He crumpled the cell door behind him, pushing in the wall in a spiderweb of spreading cracks from the force of the impact.

"You clothe yourself in iron," said the intruder, striding forward, "but you don't know what it is."

Doom was on his feet in an instant, planing them wide. He glanced at Shinji, and the inhibitor collar fell open with a click. Shinji was on his feet, putting his hands out for balance. The Earth's electromagnetic field wreathed him in a comforting blanket, tugging at his mind. Doom's eyes met his, and there was a silent instant of understanding between them.

The cell doors, every one in the entire hallway, tore free of their moorings and sailed through the hall, slamming into the intruder like clapping hands. The metal folded around him, covering him, and Shinji pushed his hands together, feeling their resistance between them. He squeezed, hard, straining, clenching his teeth until the intruder was wreathed in a solid ball of white-painted metal, groaning and squeaking as it compressed.

The metal superheated in an instant. A wash of heat rolled back through the door, and Shinji coughed, grabbing at his throat. The crumpled cell doors unfolded, turning red hot, then white hot, and fell around the intruder in a sizzling pool on the floor. He gave Shinji a cursory, contemptuous glance, and turned back to Doom.

The warlord was already on his feet, one heavy gauntlet wreathed in spellfire while the other was raised in a fist. Shinji felt a nimbus of energy crackle into being around him, some sort of electromagnetic field. He stepped forward.

"Boy," he said firmly, "Contact Strange. Find my daughter. _Go." _

* * *

The faceplate of the Mark X armor dropped down over Mari's eyes, and the blurred world her glasses abandoned her in came to sharp clarity, the suit's HUD superimposed over it. She watched the spinning icons as Jarvis brought the system on line in autonomous mode. She was cut off from the mainframe in Redding and she could see why- there was a continuous radio transmission blasting on every frequency, with far more power than she'd ever seen before. It was coming from everywhere at once.

"The satellites," she said absently, "They've taken over all the communications satellites."

Katsuragi clenched her jaw, touching her chin in thought. Mari strode forward, towering over her in the armor. Kaji was tugging his mask on. It was better than nothing, she supposed. The kids were staring at her in awe.

"You two should go home to your families.

"No," the girl said flatly. What was her name? Hikari?

"No way," said the boy. "We're going."

"Cute," said Mari, "but this is a job for the adults. There's no kiddie table in a firefight."

The girl took two steps forward and shoved her. Mari grunted in surprise as she had to take a step backwards, the suit's internals whirring silently as it compensated to balance her. Without missing a beat, the girl flipped over Mari's head, pistoned her feet against the suit's shoulders, and jumped up to the ceiling. Her hands hit with a loud slap, and she hung there, tucked up against it.

"Okay then," said Mari. "Let's go."

She led the way, back out of the house. She walked up the lawn to where the hill began to slope steeply down towards the city. Kaji stepped up beside her, holding a remote control in his hand. He pushed a button with his gloved thumb and stuck the remote back in his satchel.

"Spare glider," he rasped, his fright mask altering his voice. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

Katsuragi stood beside her.

"Plan?"

"We had an idea," said Hikari, "We-"

Mari gave her a look, not realizing she could only see the blank face plate of the armor. She nodded, her chin catching the internal switch, and the faceplate lifted up. "Kid, look, you can come along, but-"

"She broke into Nerv before," said Misato, folding her arms under her impressive chest.

"That's right!" the boy shouted. "Hikari got us in."

"This is different," said Mari. "This is _Doctor Doom_ we're talking about here."

The evacuation alarm, the one they sounded when an angel was approaching, sounded. With all her signals jammed, Mari couldn't break into Nerv communications and get any details, and that made her nervous. She flexed her hands, mostly for the reassuring clink as the gauntlets closed.

"We need to move," said Katsuragi, "Quickly."

"Here's the plan," said the girl, cutting in sharply. "Stark, you and the Green Goblin-"

"Hobgoblin," Kaji corrected.

"Whatever. You and Leatherface here go smash in the front door. Toji, go with them. While they're distracted, me and Misato will sneak in through the access vents."

Mari looked at her. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

She sighed. "Fine, let's go."

Kaji's glider came circling around and rolled to a hover, the bat-faced front end tilting up slightly. It bobbed under his weight as he stepped onto it and latched his feet into the stirrups. The girl -Hikari- and Katsuragi both took a running start from the hillside, threw their arms out, and spun silvery webs into the night.

The boy looked at Mari, then at Kaji, and climbed on the back of the glider with him. He put his arms around Kaji's waist.

"So, uh, do I have to lean into turns?"

Kaji snorted. "Just be quiet."

Mari nodded and closed helmet. She kicked her heels down and started up her thrusters, and lifted off, motioning for Kaji to follow. As she lifted off, a warning appeared on her radar, the small display increasing in size on her display. She rolled in the air and looked up to see a number of streaking objects, trailing long streamers of smoke behind them, coming down in a rough circle around the city. As they slowed they disappeared from sight, followed by a series of hollow booms as they made impact.

Kaji pushed his glider hard to keep up with her. With their radios jammed, he had no way of talking to her, so he pointed instead. As he rolled, the boy held on for dear life, his screams torn away by the wind.

She saw something else coming in. The way it flew reminded her more of the old Space Shuttle than a plane- it tilted heavily back, using the underbelly of its square body to undermine its own momentum, and it looked like the underside was heat shielded. It was enormous, as big as a wide-bodied jumbo jet, and oddly square, with stubby wings. The readout on her HUD indicated some kind of antigrav tech was involved in keeping it aloft. It was heading towards the center of the city.

It leveled off, and fired a salvo of missiles from pods under its wings, directing them at the perimeter of one of the open areas left over from the angel attacks, flattering the construction rigs that had been set up around the rubble. Something tickled the back of Mari's mind.

She knew a hot landing zone being cleared when she saw one.

* * *

Asuka ran. There was one place she hadn't been yet, one place she hadn't yet dared visit. She slowed, her boots clicking on the sidewalk as she approached the apartment complex she'd come to call home, before everything went to hell on her. She slowed as she moved up the steps. The door had been barred, a heavy metal plate bolted down over the glass entrance. She raised her hand and focused, and fire wreathed her fingers, superheated plasma spinning into being at her will. She held her hand out and concentrated, and a beam of raw heat slammed into the plate, It bowed inwards and melted like so much cheese, left out in the sun. She stepped under it, untouched by the heat rising off the slag as she stepped inside.

The building had been cleared and the elevator wasn't working, so she took the stairs. When she found the apartment, the front door was smashed open. She stepped inside, and winced. The place was a wreck. Misato's door was smashed in, and the place had been pretty clearly ransacked, by her father's men as well as Essex's. The table and sofa in the living room were overturned, and the entire contents of the kitchen cabinets were lying out on the table. The refrigerators were empty. There was a cold finality to it all, a sepulchral air.

She pushed her own door open. He things were untouched. She lifted her finger and a dancing flame appeared over its tip, illuminating the room. She walked in a slow circle, turning around the undersized room and appraising her sparse collection of things. She didn't know why she came here. There was nothing for her.

Her closet was halfway open. She slid it open fully. Something stood out to her. The jacket she'd worn on the flight from Latveria was hanging in the back of the closer. She touched the sleeve, and something tickled her mind. She turned the lapel aside, and slipped her fingers into the inside pocket. Within there was a simple index card, on which was written a telephone number. A shiver ran down her spine.

She pulled out her cell phone, thought better of it, and tossed it aside. Misato's phone was dead, silent when she touched the cradle to her ear. She ran from the apartment, darting down the steps, and ducked through the melted metal plate. She ran full force until she saw a pay phone tucked under an alcove and almost ran into it, skidding to a stop on the slick heels of her boots. She looked around, saw that she was alone, took a breath.

She picked up the headset and realized she'd have to be quick. No doubt von Doom had the city's communications grid under surveillance. As soon as she spoke, she'd be detected and her conversation recorded. Her fingers were shaking. She almost touched the first button to dial, but pulled back, biting her lip. She closed her eyes to will away the sting of tears. She very nearly put the headset down, hovering it over the cradle, then touched it to her ear.

Very slowly, very deliberately, she dialed the number. It rang twice, and there was an answer.

"Hello, Asuka."

"Captain Rogers," she whispered, as if it would matter. "Please. I need help."

"We're on our way."

Her stomach seized, turning to ice inside her. She trembled, the sudden realization of what she'd just done settling on her shoulders.

_Traitor._

"Wait."

She froze. "Hold on. I have someone here who wants to talk to you."

"Asuka?" a strange, eerily familiar voice said, almost in a whisper. "I'm coming."

"Who is this?"

"You don't know me. We met at the airport, I…" he choked up, "I… I'm your father."

Her mouth worked silently. She pressed her eyes tightly shut as the world blurred, and leaned on the phone kiosk.

"Father," she whispered.

A harsh mechanical voice cut her off. "A state of emergency has been declared. All lines are currently busy. Please hold while-"

She dropped the phone. She stumbled two steps back, and turned just in time to the East, where someone stabbed the sky with a pillar of light and set the night on fire.

* * *

Shinji ran, ran for his life. Alarms were going off everywhere, and he could feel reality itself screaming, a thousand white-hot shrieks piercing his mind. There was no stillness anywhere. The evacuation alarm blended with another set of blaring shrieks and a loud, artificial voice booming _Alpha Labs Containment Breach_ over and over again. He came to a stop at the end of the corridor just in time for a rippling boom to nearly knock him off his feet. He looked back over his shoulder and saw Victor von Doom surrounded in a nimbus of light, hurling roiling masses of fire with one hand while directing open beams of concussive force from the other. The silver-haired intruder strode forward through it, leaning the devastating blasts as a man leans into a stiff wind.

Shinji bolted, pushed through a set of doors, and found himself in a stairwell. He looked up and down, seeing only identical, gray steps, and decided up was the best option. When he was far enough away from what was going on below, he stopped, panting, to catch his breath. He fell against the wall, closed his eyes, and reached for himself, feeling his spirit press against the bonds of his body.

He didn't so much arrive on the Astral Plane as he was pulled there, sucked in so strongly he nearly lost his concentration and fell back into the material universe. He found himself on all fours, staring down into a brick path. The stones were cracked and warped, and a searing heat radiated up from between them. When Shinji looked up, he blinked and shook his head. There were colors, colors eveywhere, somewhere between smoke and liquid and fire, swirling in every direction, colors for which mortal man knew no name.

"Don't look!"

He turned around. The bubble of sanity in which he stood was ever shrinking. Stephen Strange stood at its center, arms raised up, his head bowed in deep concentration. He dispensed with the illusions of the mind and spoke to Shinji directly, without moving his lips or even looking at him. Shinji turned in a slow circle. The mental landscape they shared was collapsing, devoured by a raging torrent of colors. It pushed in again, and he saw shapes moving within it, formless many-limbed things and laughing faces. He saw the wings of a great bird unfolding, saw a raging torrent of blood tumble from on high and flood around them as lightning crashed and whispered, half-heard secrets tickled his mind and a wave of malignant, bilious stench rolled over him. He stumbled back, nearly colliding with Strange.

"What's happening?"

Strange barely acknowledged him. "A gateway has been opened, and something is trying to come through. I am holding it back."

"Let me lend you my strength, together, we-"

"No," said Strange, "This is not your fight."

Just like that, he fell back into his body. His eyes flicked open, he drew in a deep breath, and ran. His bare feet slapped on the concrete steps and he pumped his arms furiously, as if he could throw himself forward and gain speed. He started taking the steps two at a time, then three at a time, jumping from step to step with ease. When he kicked out his foot for purchase he hit nothing but air and he felt it, he _felt_ the magnetic field under him. He no longer needed to walk. Like pushing the opposing pole of two magnets together, he simply lifted himself, and gasped as he rocketed up, barely missing the underside of the next flight of stairs. He weaved from side to side until he hit the top and brought himself to a skidding, stumbling stop. Breathing hard, he was coated in a thin layer of cold sweat. He looked back down and felt a moment of vertigo when he realized what he'd just done.

There was a door in front of him. He raised his hands and with a gesture tore it right out of the wall and hurled it behind him. There was a rippling boom from below, and he felt the floor itself shaking under his feet. He ran through the door and found himself face first with a pack of Latverian guards in black-and-red uniforms. They raised their rifles and planted them squarely at his head.

"I," he gasped, "don't like guns."

He clapped his hands together. The guards stumbled as the weapons came free of their hands and slammed together, grinding and squealing as they twisted into a solid ball and clattered together on the floor. The guards righted themselves and moved to grab him, and he took hold of their sidearms, still holstered at their hips, and used them to pull them off their feet and drag them by their belts out of his way.

"Stay down," he snapped, and walked past them.

There were more guards. He felt something surging within him. His fists clenched and he bit down hard, grinding his teeth. He could feel the blood in their veins, the tiny particles of iron binding their lives together. He…

He stopped, looked at his hands, and kept walking. The guards didn't trouble him. He pushed through the next door and finally spotted an elevator. He pushed the button, thought better of it, and with force of will ripped the doors out, spreading them apart around him. He looked up into the elevator shaft, reached up with his hands, and curled his fingers, closing his magnetic might around the elevator car itself. He yanked it free, brought it slowly down, and stepped inside. He tilted his gaze up slightly and willed it upwards, his knees buckling a little from the force of his ascent. He didn't know where to go, what to do. When the elevator reached its highest level he pushed out with his hands and shoved away the outer doors, and stepped out. The car lurched behind him, caught on the safety racks.

He had to stop, figure out where he was. He remembered this place, this was part of Essex's labs. His chest was heaving, every breath burned. He was pushing himself too hard, too fast. He stumbled through the corridor, trying to remember the route to the surface. He had to go through the labs, find his way to the other prisoners. He leaned on his knees, and took a breath. This was going to be slow, just too slow. The walls around him were all reinforced concrete. Reinforced with re-bar. Iron re-bar.

He stood up. He took a breath. He folded currents of magnetic force around the strands of ferromagnetic material in the wall in front of him, and pulled. He grimaced as he upped the forced until the concrete cracked into shards and powder and spilled out. The metal bars groaned and twisted open a new door, and he stepped through it. He turned to one side and saw the door to the lab where Essex had strapped Asuka into the machine, and knew where he was.

The others were being in kept in simple barred cells. He pushed through the doors and ran down the cell block. He felt a sting on his lip, brushed away a thin trickle of hot blood from his nose, and breathed in.

Kensuke rushed to the cell nearest him. "Shinji!"

He turned. "Hold on, I'll get everybody out."

He looked around. He could pull the bars out if he wanted to, but he was getting tired. There had to be…

_Calm down. Think._

There was a master lever at the end of each row of cells. He took a breath, and with a flick of his hand, lifted them. The doors clanged open, and the children pushed their way out. The cell at the end held Fuyusuki; he looked none the worse for wear, save for a few day's worth of stately beard growing over his chin. He pushed through the throng to Shinji.

"What's happening?" he shouted over the alarms.

"I have no idea," Shinji shouted back, "but it's _bad. _We need to go. Now!"

Fuyutsuki nodded, waving his arms around. Shinji pushed passed him, and the group began to follow him. The doors that sealed off Essex' section of the lab were easy enough to shove open, but he felt a little stab of pain in his forehead when he did. The more familiar corridors of headquarters proper were a welcome sight. He leaned on the wall.

Fuyutsuki grabbed his shoulder. "You're bleeding."

Shinji touched his upper lip. He scrubbed the edge of his hand under it, drawing away a streamer of thin, runny red blood. He took a breath.

"I'll be fine."

"You don't look-"

"I said I'll be fine!" he snapped, standing up. "Let's go."

He led the way. He felt better now, and was breathing a little more easily. He stopped at the elevators.

"Get everyone out. If there's an angel, I have to get to the cages…" he trailed off, and scrubbed his hands through his hair.

"What?" said Fuyutsuki.

"Asuka."

The old man's eyes hardened.

"I know," said Shinji, "but we need her to pilot, and… I have to make sure she's safe. I don't know why. I think I'm supposed to."

"I'll see what I can do," said Fuyutsuki, "but the Latverians are still holding Central Dogma."

Shinji leaned on his knees. "I don't know what to do."

"I can hack into a terminal," said Kensuke, appearing beside the old man. "I can't do anything about the guards, but I can lock them out if there's some place else with some computers I can use."

Shinji looked from him to Fuyutsuki. The old man nodded. "I know such a place. The labs, adjacent to the cages. We'll keep the children with us. The surface may not be safe."

The elevator doors opened at last. Shinji crowded inside while the rest of the school students pushed into the other elevators. There was barely enough room for half of them. Fuyutsuki stood outside Shinji's elevator.

"Everyone, wait for me. I'm not coming up until everyone is out."

Shinji nodded, and Fuyutsuki returned it as the doors closed. Shinji fell against the back wall, and scrubbed his hand under his nose once again. The bleeding appeared to have stopped, but he still felt lightheaded, like his lungs were full of cotton. Kensuke edged close to him.

"Hey, man, you alright?"

"Fine," Shinji nodded. "Just leave me be."

When the doors opened, he pushed through the throng. He knew his way from here. He ran down the corridor to the wide doors that opened out onto the cage, and skidded to a stop. Standing in the middle of the wide metal bridge that ran in front of the Evas was Doctor Akagi, her wings folded behind her. Standing beside her in her white plugsuit was Rei.

Shinji's jaw dropped. He ran at full speed and nearly bowled her over, throwing his arms around her. Rei furtively hugged him back, resting her head against his. He choked back a sob, feeling a sudden weakness in his knees.

"You're _alive,"_ he said triumphantly, turning her in his arms. She blinked in surprise.

"I am alive," she agreed.

"What are you doing in that suit? Your Eva was destroyed."

"I am to pilot Unit One."

Shinji looked at Akagi. "Can she?"

"Yes," said Akagi, "I think so. We were just finishing up a test when the alarms went off. I think we could…"

A stabbing pain in his forehead made him double over. Shinji fell against the rail and Rei grabbed him, pulling him back. He saw the LCL swirling below and the world started spinning. Holding him up, Rei slid her arm under his legs and picked him bodily up from the floor. His vision fuzzed.

"What's wrong?" Akagi said sharply, drawing to his side.

"I don't know," he croaked. "It hurts."

Shinji shook his head. Rei lowered his feet to the floor, sliding herself under his shoulder to hold him up. He blinked a few times until his vision cleared. There was a rolling boom, and the bridge swayed.

"Get her out of here," Shinji said, "Find Asuka and Misato, get everybody somewhere safe."

"No," said Rei. "You will not pilot in this condition."

She turned, leaving him to lean on Ritsuko's shoulder, and headed up the gantry to the entry plug.

"I will execute a remote start. Find a safe place."

"Yeah," said Shinji, "a safe place."

"What's happening?" said Ritsuko.

Shinji shook his head. As Rei climbed into the plug, he followed her back out of the cage, where the students were gathering. As the last of the set of elevators opened, Fuyutsuki emerged with a final cluster of them.

"We're going to your labs," said Fuyutsuki.

"Not a bad idea," said Ritsuko. "Maya should be down there already. Come on."

"I'm not going," said Shinji.

Fuyutsuki rounded on him. "What?"

"I have to find out what's going on. Stay here. I'm going up."

* * *

Toji didn't like flying. Clinging to this Kaji guy's waist for dear life, he was staring down at the pitching, rolling city of Tokyo-3, desperately afraid he would fall even though it posed no particular threat to him. What concerned him more was the way Kaji was bobbing and weaving, and the air show going on overhead. More of those things were streaking down out of the sky. They landed at the edge of the city at first, but were starting to come down in between, or through, some of the buildings. Looking down, he could see shapes moving between the buildings, and the lights were starting to go out. Kaji made a frantic motion for them to land.

Toji screamed. The sound was lost in the blasting wind. He ducked over and rolled hard as a jet fighter came streaking in, banking hard. For a brief moment he though that the cavalry was coming in, that they weren't going to be alone. That was until the jet started shooting at them. It made an impossible turn, spinning in the air, and a blast of light crackled past his head. He panicked, Kaji turned, and his concentration slipped.

He was holding on to Kaji by his belt, dragging him off the glider. They turned wildly in the air. Stark moved closer but she couldn't get a hold of them, clawing at the air. Toji did the only thing he could do. He looked down, said a silent prayer, and let go. He fell through the air and Kaji ducked after him, leaning hard on his glider, but it was no use. He skimmed up over a rooftop and Toji kept on going, closing his eyes as the ground rushed up to meet him.

He figured he'd bounce, but he was wrong. When he hit the pavement it folded up around him like a flower with a mighty crack. He rolled onto his feet, looked up, and thought Kaji saw him, but the two were busy. The first jet had been joined by two more, making impossible, gut-twistingly tight turns in an attempt to bring their weapons to bear on Kaji and Stark. They had no choice but to retreat, or at least, Kaji did; he kicked down on his glider and headed for ground level, and vanished behind the rooftops. Toji got up, dusted himself off, and caught a missile in the face.

He didn't even see it coming. The shell moved so fast it got there before the heavy, thumping _bang_ that should have preceded it, and his world went white. He felt the shards of metal and the burst of heat play across his skin and shred his shirt as they rolled him over and bowled him into the wall. He yelped, rubbing at his eye. There was a piece of shrapnel stuck under his eyelid until he managed to rub it away and it tink-tinked on the ground.

There were five of them. The leader must have been the one who shot them- he aimed a heavy pistol, the bore as big as a big man's fist. All five of them had on funny, bird-snout masks and wore huge suits of armor that hissed and clanked as they moved. They looked oddly unbalanced with huge packs on their backs that looked like a pair of jet engines lashed together. Toji blinked. They were enormous, twice as tall as he was, easily. Their armor was purple with green highlights, and on their shoulders they wore the emblem of a white angel with red wings. The leader's icon was made of fine ivory and the wings picked out in rubies.

He stepped in front of the others and lifted a sword. They all had some kind of hand weapon- big axes with teeth, like a chainsaw, or swords that were the same, but the leaders was different, it looked like an ordinary blade, but huge. He thumbed a switch just under the handguard, and with a hissing crackle the blade leapt to life, wrapped in a nimbus of blue light. Moving forward, he swung it side to side, slowly.

He aimed his weapon at Toji again. This time, he was ready. When the big pistol fired, the bolt hit him square in the chest, but he anchored himself to the ground and it simply burst around him. Toji charged, folding his arms in front of his face. The leader took a wide swing with his blade, but Toji skidded to a stop at the last second and anchored himself with all his might, drew himself into the ground so hard it cracked the pavement. The force of the blow shifted him slightly, but the blade folded around his arm. The energy field screamed, opened up over his chest, and blinded him.

Then, the sword exploded. The armored giant stumbled backwards, spewing guttural curses, as shards of glowing metal flew around him, scouring the blue from his armor. He fired his big gun wildly, the shots blowing chunks out of the street. Toji ran forward, jumped, and only managed to get his arms about the giant's waist, and then he couldn't reach all the way around. It didn't matter. The armored figure stumbled to the side, and Toji clenched his teeth and focused on hitting the ground with all his might.

They went down together. The armored giant was pinned underneath him. There was a rippling crack as the side of his armor dented in from Toji's suddenly multiplied weight. One of the others took a swing at him with a clattering, snarling chainsaw-sword, but the teeth just played over his skin and bounced off. He raised his arm up, and though he was no stronger, he made it as heavy as he could, until his vision, blurred, and brought it down. The beaked helmet cracked, and the monster inside made a guttural, gurgling noise.

Toji rolled off. His attacker had dropped the pistol, and Toji went for it In his hands, it was blocky and ridiculously oversized. He coudln't get his hand around the grip, so he couched it in the crook of his shoulder, pointed it at one of the monsters, and pushed the trigger in with his hand. It went off with a thunderclap, danced up out of his grasp, and slapped him in the face as it tumbled over his shoulder, but the shot went into one of their legs and burst, blowing out the side of the armor. Toji looked away from the wound, suddely sickened, as the giant went down on one knee.

They raised their pistols and opened fire. Toji covered his face with his arms as the shells burst across his head and chest, pummeling him, but he felt nothing. He cried out in a rage as a tiny, sad little voice whispered in the back of his head.

_I would have liked to go dancing with you._

He turned his face up to the heavens and weeping, he screamed. Gravity was his plaything, mass his toy. The field surrounding his body rippled out along the ground, spreading cracks and fissures in the earth with it. One of the armored giants pushed a button on his chest, and fire burst out from his enormous backpack. He lifted skyward for a bare second, then turned, his center of gravity pulling him down backwards, and when the pack cracked against the ground, it exploded. The world went white, and Toji remembered what pain was as the sound washed over him.

When he stood up, he was unharmed, though he was covered in soot and bare from the waist up, his pants mostly hanging around him in shreds.

He didn't look at the bodies. Instead, he ran, ran without knowing a reason. The world was going insane. There were fires in the city now, tongues of flame licking up into the night sky, and he heard the sound of screaming and the roaring, snarling clatter of the invaders chainsaw weapons. More of the pod-things were streaking in, and he saw small clusters of armored giants like the ones he'd fought leaping out of boxy purple-and-green aircraft that passed rumbling overhead, firing their big jet packs to slow their descent as they came down in the city.

Another one of them came down in front of him, a loner this time. His armor was streaked with red, and it wasn't paint. He was carrying something wet in his hand, his pistol lost. He'd torn his helmet off; Toji could see bits of it attached to a ring around his neck. He was bald, his face scarred, and his face had a bizarre, equine proportion to it, human but not human. He threw whatever it was he carried aside with a wet slap and charged Toji, raising his sword high, snarling with it. He managed a guttural roar as he brought it down on Toji's upraised arm.

"Blood!" he screamed in a lunatic froth, "_Blood!"_

Toji didn't think of a clever reply. He brought his foot up, then down. The ground rolled beneath them, the pavement lifting in a series of almost perfectly rectangular sections as it slid under the armored giant. The monster rolled, and Toji scrambled on top of him. Still screaming madly, the invader swung his sword, bashing the now unmoving teeth futilely against Toji's neck. He glanced over at the object the crazy bastard had discarded, and made a horrified, guttural sound, his face twisting into a rictus of disgust and anguish.

He reached down and put both his hands on the attacker's face. He opened his huge mouth and spat something on Toji, something that sizzled and hissed on his shoulder, but Toji felt nothing. He rested both hands on the armored giant's forehead, closed his eyes, and made himself very heavy.

When he stood up, he stumbled against the building nearest, and burst out weeping. He sat there on the ground for a few minutes, sobbing his eyes out. He heard a scream in the distance and his jaw set. He got up, swiped the sizzling pad of frothing liquid off his shoulder onto the ground, where it began to eat into the pavement, and stumbled away from the dead giant.

He took a deep breath, breathing in the salt of his own tears, and steadied himself. There were other people out there, running screaming through the night with these monsters chasing them, and they _weren't_ indestructible. He ran towards the sounds, any semblance of a plan forgotten. Hikari and the others were going to be on their own.

* * *

Asuka was running. She was surrounded, the unknown enemy on all sides. Their assault was swift, brutal, precise, almost mechanical in its execution. The pod-landers were coming down like rain now. She recognized the tactics being employed immediately. The ring of pods that came down around the city deployed the invaders in a cordon, preventing any escape as the second and third waves landed in the buildings themselves, supported by the aircraft blasting overhead. This was no pitched battle, it was an ambush on grand scale, a massacre. Years of reading dusty books from Doom's private library came to life.

Hell was raining from the sky, and it meant to kill them all.

She ducked as a jet passed overhead, skimming suicidally low over the rooftops. It banked right, then sharply left, executing a turn so tight it had to roll through it, coming around so hard the pilot's brain must have been jellied. She half expected it to crash into the ground in front of her, and for a bare second she thought it was coming apart under the stress as it crumpled, the wings drawing up as the nose and cockpit tumbled forward. It continued to roll until it landed, stood up, and aimed a heavy gun, bolted to its fist, at her.

"Don't," it said in a high-pitched, scratchy voice, "Move."

Asuka raised her hands.

"I said _don't move."_

"I won't," she sneered.

Fire lanced out from her palms, in a tight beam, and washed over the mechanical monstrosity, bowling him backwards. Sputtering, he wildly fired his weapon, missing her by a wide margin. It hit the corner of an apartment block and blew out chunks of charred concrete. When it moved towards her again, it seemed unharmed, but for the scorching. She bolted, not waiting to give it a chance to line up a second shot. She glanced over her shoulder as it ponderously turned and lurched after her, picking up speed with every lengthy stride.

She spotted an alleyway between two three story storefronts and darted between them. The robot slammed into the facades, knocking loose a torrent of bricks, and feebly waved its arm after her. She glanced back, looked forward, and melted a smoking hole through a chain link fence. She had to get back to headquarters, and in a hurry.

"This is Starscream! I have her! Decepticons, _converge on my position!_'

Running into the street, Asuka skidded to a stop on her heels and nearly fell as a mechanical _thing_ lunged at her, some sort of mechanical panther. It leapt over her, turned, and snarled like an animal, head held low, is claws scraping long furrows in the pavement. She backed away from it, only to be confronted by another giant, taller than the other, with a glassy structure in its chest that resembled nothing less than the door on the front of an old tape deck. She was quickly surrounded- five of them, stomping green things festooned with an array of parts from construction equipment, ran down the street and leveled a set of bizarre weapons at her.

The jet, apparently the leader, raised its fist and spoke into it. She blinked, and some secret part of her mind wondered, unbidden, why a machine would have such a crud means of communication.

"I have her."

She edged towards a running start, but the cyber-cat paced closer to her, hissing.

She clenched her teeth.

"Get out of my way."

"Or what?" the leader snapped, petulantly.

"This."

She clenched her fists, rolled her shoulders, and _burned_. The oxygen around her went out with a mighty _whump_, and the glow made her close her eyes. Wreathed in flame, she raised her hands and swept them at the most likely means of escape, the cat-thing. The blast rolled it over, sending it tumbling end over end into a car. She upped the intensity, gritting her teeth, and the car itself went red hot, the tank caught, and it exploded, going up with a crunching _whump. _

The creature got up, unharmed. Asuka bolted into a run, trailing blazing heat behind her. The pavemented melted under her feet as her shoes turned to cinders and peeled away in the wind, black dust in the air. Her uniform with its special, fireproof weave, held. The tape-deck robot reached up, pushed a button on its chest, and started launching rectangular blocks of metal shapes and gears. They unfolded in mid-air, landed, and chased after her.

She didn't even know where she was going anymore, she was just running. The leader planted his fists on his hips, as if he found all of this very amusing. He was _smirking _at her.

This was not acceptable.

She turned around. She threw her arms out, and she screamed. All her rage roiled through her, all her fury. She'd lost everything and thrown way what few shreds she had with a phonecall, and now these things meant to mock her. The heat washed from her, an expanding sphere of superheated plasma that melted the pavement under her feet and burst the surrounding buildings into flames. She wasn't even touching the ground anymore.

She opened her eyes. A single thought bubbled through her mind.

_I can fly._

It was like leaping into water and discovering she could tread water. She rose up without quite meaning to, carried on a shimmering column of heat. Her attackers retreated, snapping and snarling. She did not have time for these idiots. She needed to get to headquarters, and she needed to get there now. She raised her arms and plunged them down, and set the earth beneath her to burn. Molten rock and running, white-hot metal jetted up around her as she dove, burning her way down through the layers of soil and rock and armor plating. She screamed as she pushed the fire hotter, drew herself into it, _became _fire. Her entire body was wreathed in flames; her hair stood on end, licking up from her scalp as a roaring conflagration. She plunged through the roof of the Geofront, the glass of the mirror system dripping around her like rain as she melted through it.

Hovering was easy. She just had to think it. She put her hands out and hung in the air, her own light washing out over the mirrors and illuminating the rolling fields and cultivar forest below. She should have been truiumphant, exultant, heady with glory. Her moment of triumph had come, she had mastered her gift.

Yet for all the heat, she was cold.

She put her hands to her sides and rocketed downwards, pushed by a blast of heat projected from her feet. In a somersault she landed, her bare feet turning the soft soil of the Geofront to dirty glass as they sank into them. She took a few steps forward, swept out her arms, and the flames winked out, leaving her now wild mane of unkempt hair to pool around her shoulders.

The world below was calm. Whoever these invaders were, they had not breached the cavern itself, at least not yet. She put one foot in front of the other and ran down the garden path, towards the gleaming pyramid. A ripple of fear flowed through her- there seemed to be no activity from within. She stumbled to a stop as she heard the first of the rippling booms.

She looked up. The mirrors lined the underside of the city like a pool of liquid gold, suspended high overhead. With each thundering impact, they rippled, and she heard the tinkling sound of breaking glass, a whole chorus of shatterings. The impacts increased in intensity and speed, and a rolling wave of cracks ran across the mirror system, from one side of the Geofront to the other. She threw her hands up as the first great shards of glass began to fall, vainly shielding her face. A plate of gleaming mirror came down on a hill before her, folding as it hit the ground, and threw up a cloud of dust.

She had to get out of the open. She bolted, her lungs burning from exertion. She was beginning to tire, and the pyramid was still far off, gradually looming closer with every step. Close, now. With a mighty tearing sound, a whole section of the mirrors fell free, slid slowly down to earth, and crashed into the side of the pyramid. It sent out a shower of sparks and crumpled down the side. She pumped her legs as hard as she could, dying to slow, knowing if she stopped she would never start again. It was too far.

She saw a tiny figure running towards her. It was Shinji.

He was clutching his side, panting hard as he stumbled to a stop. He looked up as another pale sheet of mirror glass came tumbling through the air. Throughout the earthen interior of the domed cavern roof, cracks were spreading. With a titanic groan, the entire underside of the city shifted. A rain of gears came crashing down, followed a moment later by one of the armored skyscrapers, moving with a strange grace as it descended, struck the earth in a cloud of dust and a rising ring of mud, and folded on itself with a tearing, cracking roar.

Shinji looked at her.

"I'm sorry!" she shouted, her words lost in the roar.

"Your father sent me to find you," he shouted, dumbly. He took a stumbling step towards her.

"What's going on?" she shouted back. "I was attacked."

"I don't know," he bellowed, cupping his hands around his mouth over the roar. "We have to get inside, the-"

He looked up. His big blue eyes opened wide in shock and terror. A sound of cracking concrete and groaning steel rippled through the Geofront, and the roof began to bow. Slowly, inexorably, the foundations of the city were sinking, pounded from above by a thunderous, continuous vibration, now doubled on itself and increasing in intensity and frequency. Asuka could feel it in her skull, feel her eardrums vibrate so hard they were itching.

Shinji didn't blink. He didn't speak. He threw up his hands and trembled, going pale as a sheet. His fingers stretched out against some invisible force, and a fine trickle of blood ran down his upper lip and dripped on his chin. She saw red lines forming in his eyes as his capillaries inflated, and she understood.

She flexed her fingers, reached up, and touched her palms to his cheeks. He stared up, his mouth hanging open, and she wasn't sure if he even realized she was there. The fires came to her unbidden, the roiling plasma wreathing around her body for a moment before, with a tight _whump_, it swirled down her arms and her wrists and flowed into him, melding with his body. He stood straighter, and the color came back to his face. He clenched his teeth.

His eyes met hers, and together they held up the sky.

Panic surged through her as a shadow fell over them. A dinosaur was walking up to the pair, slowly, deliberately. She thought it was a tyrannosaur, perhaps the one that escaped from the cargo ship during the angel attack, but it was to small, the gaze of its beady-eyes too keen, and it was smirking.

It roared, and its body unfolded. It took a lunging step forward, spreading itself as it turned sideways, and a mechanical being unfurled from within, locking together with the clattering of metal and grinding of gears. It held the tyrannosaur head out, opened it, and a strange glow grew within, humming with power.

"Oh," it said, "You Shinjis do love to sacrifice yourselves, don't you?"

* * *

The weapons fire from the ground was like a hailstorm falling up, or embers rising from a roiling flame. Mari leaned in the suit and rolled to the side. This was the first time she had truly tested the Mark X, and the clinical part of her mind noted the ease with which it maneuvered, seeming to fit better than the others, even. That part of her mind kept her ground and sane as fist-sized mass reactive shells streaked past her. She'd already taken one in the leg and there were red lines through the main structural members. She could raise her repulsor field to full, but she wouldn't be able to fly at the same time.

The invaders were everywhere at once, storming through the city on foot, making short leaps with jump packs on their backs. They moved in tight, ordered packs in some places, while in others they broke ranks and chased after groups of civilians, raising their hand to hand weapons and screaming. Mari clenched her teeth and came in for a hard, rolling landing, her stomach lurching as she rolled over on her back and up onto her feet. The terrified crowd behind her spared a look and kept running as the armored giants bore down on her, seemingly forgetting their pistols as they raised bizarre weaponized chainsaws.

She squared herself up, ducked under a too-fast swing, and hit her attacker with two repulsor blasts in chest. The stylized eagle on his breastplate cracked from the impact but he pushed through it and on the backswing, caught her with the non-lethal edge of his blade. She fixed herself in place and pushed, managing to wrench it out of his hand, only for his other to come around in a massive fist and crack her right in the face. Her vision spun as she was knocked backwards, the faceplate bumping her nose, barely absorbing the impact. The other stood around and cheered, challenging the frothing madman to take her on.

Bareheaded, he was inhuman, both too big and too oddly proportioned. He was bald and there were metal studs embedded on his forehead, and when he opened his mouth to scream, she saw his teeth were filed to sharp points and his tongue was too short, as if he'd bitten it off. He charged at her as if he meant to strangle her. She kicked down in her boots, popped up on a quick blast of her boot thrusters, and came down hard, hitting him in the face with a savage right cross. She felt bone crunch under the blow, but her opponent was none the worse for wear. He stomped past her turned, and smeared the blood from his broken jaw on his gauntlet.

Then, very deliberately, he licked it off.

Gagging, Mari backed off. The others remembered they had ranged weapons and opened fire on her. The shells touched off as the struck her, tossing her around like a rag doll. Another squad was coming up, more heavily armored, with larger packs on their backs. One of them had a belt fed weapon of some kind, and one of them had some sort of cannon connected to the power plant on his back. She decided she wasn't going to find out what happened when they fired that thing. The civilians were clear, and she took off, throwing her arms to her sides. Once she was airborne dodging the incoming fire was easy, but she'd already taken some damage. She turned hard, spun, and ducked under the level of the surrounding buildings for cover.

She heard a rippling boom, followed quickly by another and another. Dust was rising up from two spots in the city. She headed towards it, skimming low between the buildings. She hadn't seen Kaji. Some part of her prayed silently he was still alive while she peeled off, made a sharp turn using her hand repulsors to correct, and sped towards the rising dust columns. The pounding sound grew louder and faster, and on the latest, loudest impact, every pane of glass in the area shattered all at once, falling in a sheet to the street below, and the street lamps were swaying. She rounded the corner and came to a hover, gaping.

Robots. They were all sizes, most of them twenty feet tall or larger, though there were some smaller ones mixed in with the others. One of them, barely taller than a person, was standing in the middle of the square. Both of its arms were massive pile drivers, and it was they that were pounding into the city. Mari realized what it was doing- somehow, despite its diminutive size, it was shaking the entire foundation of the city- which was the roof of the biggest cafe in the world. She had to put a stop to that.

Or she would have. One of the bigger ones spun around when it noticed her. Tall and silvery, it had a face, a cruel face, and some kind of icon hanging around its neck on a chain. It level a massive gun bolted to its arm, took aim, and fire. She just barely dodged, a streak of energy lancing past her with a massive _ker-whump. _

"_Destroy that!" _it shouted over the pounding, and the others turned on her. She spun frantically in the air to avoid their blasts, and had no choice but to turn and spiral up.

She looked back over her shoulder. Three of them peeled off, jumped, and unfolded in their air. Their bodies rearranged, and suddenly there were three F-16's following her, a mostly red and white leader and his two wingmen, both darker colored. They opened fire on her not with missiles or with gunfire but with lasers. She turned too sharply and one of their shots hit her shoulder, and red lines ran through her HUD. Biting her lip, she punched on the thrusters, trying to outmaneuver them, but they spun in the air as no human pilot could, turning and twisting with ease, just barely missing her.

The world beneath her groaned and she thought she was falling, but she wasn't. The whole city lurched, and she saw part of the street beneath her crack, tilt, and sink down a good ten feet, though it still held. The pounding was so loud now she could barely hear anything else. To her horror, she realized that the others, the giants in armor suits, were pulling back to their perimeter, running and taking short flight-hops with their jet packs. Even the robots were retreating- they could all fly, apparently, as they raised their arms and took off into the air.

She rolled over onto her back and blinked on the targeting reticle. The rocket launchers in her shoulders locked on, and though the let was stuck, the right unfolded. The leader of the three jets peeled off easily, but she was on target and the cloud of micromunitions she fired split into two clusters of spiraling contrails and slammed home wit a rippling series of booms, hurling her attackers off target. One of them reformed into a robot before it hit the ground, the other simply dove in to the city. The red one came after her even faster, kicking on its afterburners. She relied on the suit to compensate and went into a steep dive, heading straight for the ground, and the red jet followed her in a deadly game of chicken.

She pulled up. She felt the blood draining from her face, and the world darkened, streaked with black and red. Her mouth fell open and she felt like vomiting, barely able to suppress the urge. She was pushing the limit on the g-forces the suit could take, as a friendly warning on her HUD informed her. She didn't quite make it. She bounced once, rolled onto her side, and got up.

"Damage report!"

She saw in detail that she was hurting. She was out of shoulder-fired missiles, and one of the launchers was totally jammed. She was only running at 60% capacity on her arc reactor and there were red lines all through her left side where she'd taken the hits from the shells before putting up the force field when she landed. She was also very dizzy, and she had to go to the bathroom.

The jet didn't crash. It flipped in the air, unfolded, and landed in a crouch.

"Not bad," it said in a high-pitched sing-song, "but pointless."

She dodged the first shot. The second hit her and pushed the field to its limit, rolling her. She got up and fired with her repulsors, but she may as well have been spitting on it for all the good it did. Smoke poured from the spots where she hit, but it didn't seem to do any damage. It kept firing lazily at her. She had to end this now and get back in the fight, do something about that pile-driver thing.

"Amusing," said the robot, "but I'm finished playing with you now."

It raised its other arm and fired a shot, but this one was wide, a sort of warping field of energy that expended out in front of it. It hit her shields and merged with them, attuning itself to the repulsor signature, and flowed into her armor. A spark bit into her cheek and she smelled the magic blue smoke, and the armor went dead around her. She sank to her knees, staring at the world through the holes of her face plate. The armor feebly crackled to life, the autorepair sequence enganging. She had a HUD, but she couldn't move.

It was all in time to see the robot jet bring his foot up and crush it down onto her chest. The armor crumpled, and the air went out of her lungs. She sputtered, and saw another craft pass overhead. Great, the others were going to gloat. A tag popped up in her HUD.

It couldn't be. It was a _Quintjet._

A missile streaked in and struck her attacker in the chest. This one must have been enough to hurt him, because he stumbled backwards, shielding his face with his arms. The self repair routine was working, she'd have enough power to get up in a minute. The Quintjet came around, swiveling its engines into VTOL, and landed behind her.

A tall woman in an overcoat walked out. The robot was still clutching the burn mark on his chest -nothing seemed to do more than scorch the finish on the damned thing- and looked at her with a sort of contempt. Mari could almost getup, a few more seconds. Whoever she was, she didn't look to be armed- just a pair of pants and a sweater under her overcoat, her silver-streaked blonde hair drawn up behind her head in a ponytail. She stood over Mari and spared her a glance, then fixed her gaze on the towering machine.

"You really want to leave."

"We'll see about that!" it sneered. It raised its arm-weapon and fired.

The shot bounce back and struck it in the chest, staggering it. A wave of invisible force swept down the street, lifting the machine from its feet, and slammed it into the building behind it. It got up, staggering, only to be struck again. The woman in the overcoat stepped over Mari and advanced, raising her hand. Invisible blows hammered the machine, shoving it backwards. It finally turned, transformed in a swirl of unfolding metal plates, and took off.

Mari sat up. When her helmet refused to open, she had to push it up.

"Uh," she said, "Hi, and you are-"

Mari squinted. She did look familiar. Wasn't she at her father's funeral?

The woman offered her hand, looked at Mari's metal gauntlet, and thought better of it. "You probably don't remember me. Susan Storm."

The ground shook again, rolling under their feet.

"We have to-"

A thin man in a leather jacket ran down the ramp from the Quintjet. "Sue! _Get back in the jet!"_

Whatever was holding up the world let go.

"Peter!" she shouted, "Get everyone close to me! _This is going to be bad!" _

* * *

Hikari ran. There was nothing for her to find purchase on in the Geofront, no high surfaces to climb. She had to reach them, had to stop this. There was a monster out of her nightmares bearing down on Shinji and Asuka, aiming the head of a dinosaur at them, and within it flared death as fire within the dragon's mouth. Misato ran beside her, taking long, leaping strides, the tendrils of her costume streaming out behind her, edging ahead, screaming incoherently. Shinji and Asuka were locked together in some kind of trance, her hands on his face while he reached for the sky, stretching his fingers.

The mechanical monster spotted them, turned, and fired. Hikari knew it was coming and twisted out of the way, flipping onto her hands. In midair she undid her backpack and let it fall on the ground, cartwheeled, and when she was on her feet, leapt. The monster swung at her with a lizard's tail folded into a claw, but she slapped her hands on it, stuck there, and spun her whole body around, crossing its face with her feet. It sputtered and tried to shake her loose. It fired another burst at Misato as she came shrieking in, but missed, and they were both on it.

"Help me, you fools!"

"_Yes, my Queen! Defend the __Royalty!" _

Hikari turned. It was a robot or an ant or a robot ant as big as a horse, charging across the fields of the Geofront floor. It rolled, unfolded with a clattering of metal, and stood up. She had to duck as a sphere of fire rocketed past her head, fired from an enormous gun. Misato panicked, rushing back as the creature brought its gun around at her, laughing like a maniac, firing pounding shots.

Hikari flattered herself on the tyrannosaur-thing's back and ducked as a wasp as big as a person ducked over her head. She barely missed being gored by its stinger. It did a backlip in the air, unfolded into a freaking _robot, _and came at her. In a fury she jumped at it, grabbed its legs, and fired a web at the ground. She looped it through her fingers and pulled, bring them both down. She landed on all fours and the wasp-bot hit hard, rolling end over end with a loud clattering of bending metal.

She barely got out of the way from another blast by the leader. Hikari leapt over him and charged the ant-thing, leaping at the last second to avoid another blast from its gun. She planted both feet in its face, knocking it backwards, backflipped onto the ground, and ducked between its legs as it swung its weapon at her, trying to bash her with the barrel.

"Misato!" Hikari shouted, "Switch dance partners!"

Misato nodded and charged the dinosaur monster, scrabbling over the ground on all fours. It swung its dino-head-arm around and clamped down on her. A look of feral joy twisted her features as she forced the mouth-claw apart with her hands. The thing stumbled backwards, grunting in annoyance, and Misato spun around and landed a savage kick on its chest, denting in the metal plate. She jumped over a swing from its other weapon, landed on its shoulder, and began tugging at its head. The costume had flowed up around her face and a second jaw hung from her chin, riddled with sharp teeth and a lolling tongue.

Hikari was too busy to be freaked out. The ant and the wasp were both after her, now. She dodged shot after shot, flipping and cartwheeling, but without any walls to climb there were only so many places to go. She had to think quickly, on her feet. She turned and fired a quick burst of web into the ant's eyes. It cried out, roaring in confusion as it scrubbed at its face, scratching metal claws over metal. Hikari turned, grabbed the wasp by the leg, and dragged him in front of her as the ant fired wildly. The blast hit the wasp-thing and the force of it knocked her off her feet. The scorched wasp robot rolled over her and landed in a heap, and she jumped to her feet and was free.

The leader roared in fury, seized Misato, and smashed her into the ground, rared up, and stomped his foot down on her. Hikari screamed and ran at him. She dodged his first shot, but this time he fired a continuous beam, and she could only dodge so quickly. It hit her like a freight train, and pain exploded through her midsection. She landed in a heap, rolling over, clutching her side. She could feel the ribs moving under her skin, broken by the impact.

Misato snarled and pushed up, toppling the monstrosity over, and crawled on top of him, pounding wildly with her fists. Hikari limped to her feet and turned in time to see a pair of launch rails rocket out of the ground, half a kilometer away from the pyramid. They were followed in short order by Shinji's Eva, Unit One. It rose up, bounced into place, and then surged forward, hands at its sides. She didn't know who was piloting, but she had to get their attention. She threw up her arm and waved, but when she tried to cry out, she managed only a feeble rasp. Her side hurt too much.

The ant robot scraped the webbing from its face and rounded on her. Grasping her side, she dodged out of the way of his shots, more clumsily this time, feeling the heat as they passed. The rumbling of the city foundations overhead was growing louder, and she saw sections of it start to sink in. Shinji made a pained cry, and blood trickled down his lip and over his chin, spattering over his chest. Asuka, not seeing Hikari or anything that was going on, leaned closed to him and kissed him on the lips. He seemed to grow stronger, and the shifting of the Geofront roof lessened.

The pain in Hikari's chest wasn't from her ribs.

She charged the ant-thing, jumped over its head, planted her feet on it shoulders, and sommersaulted. As she turned in the air, she used her free hand to fire a webline onto its back, landed, and ran. She anchored it to the ground, jumped, and fired another one. It hit the big gun, and she yanked it out of its hand. The thing raised its claws and charged her and she hit it again, wrapping a web around its leg. It stumbled forward and she attached one to its face and danced all around it, webbing it to the spot. She had to help Misato.

The fight was turning against her. The dinosaur monster rammed the end of its tail-claw into her stomach, lifting her bodily from the ground, and then turned and bashed her with the side of its other arm, knocking her end over end, then quickly brought its weapon to bear and fired. The symbiote slithered and thrashed from the impact, and Misato fell limp onto the ground. The thing casually walked over to her, picked her up in its jaws, and stared crushing her midsection.

Hikari let go of her side and ran. She dodged a wild swing, jumped over it, and webbed up the robot's eyes. It didn't panic as the others did, but raised its arms into a guard, dropping Misato. She grunted as she rolled, shook her head, and got up. Hikari landed on all fours, slid a little in the mud, and ran back under a swing of the big red-head. It had to have a weak spot, something she could do to slow it down. Her blows did nothing but hurt her fists, and she realized she was just screaming and beating on it while it stood there and took it.

It grinned at her with perfectly square, too white teeth. "I think not. No."

It backhanded her with its big claw. She tried to get out of the way but when she moved, pain lanced through her side, making her curl up on herself, and her leap was half-hearted, over before it began. The blow hit her other side and she heard something crunch, maybe her arm. The ant robot was getting back up. Misato leapt at the leader, and he battered her to the side, brought the jaw of his great claw around, and closed them around her head. She flailed as he lifted her up and brought her down, swinging her around by the neck.

The ant reached for Hikari, opening scissor claws on the end of its arm. She dodged, but barely, and the sharp curve of one claw slid across her shoulder, opening her up. Heat pooled at the top of her arm. She grabbed the ant-bot's arm, bent it over her shoulder, and pulled. It howled in pain as the joint bent backwards over her shoulder and she cried out in savage fury, turning to plant her foot in its chest. Sparks flew from the ruined joint, and she turned on it, meaning to finish the job, but she suddenly felt lightheaded.

Unit One was stomping across the Geofront, every step shaking the world beneath her. The pilot may have noticed them, she wasn't sure, but it was moving. A sense of relief washed over her as she turned and pushed off from the ant robot, leaping at the leader. She shoulder-checked into it, staggering it, and Misato broke free, snarling like an animal. They attacked together, pummeling the robot with their blows as Shinji and Asuka stood behind them, locked in place, their foreheads touching. Tears were streaming down Asuka's face.

Her temples pounded, and the world swirled. Danger, terrible danger, no direction. It came from everywhere at once, turning stronger every way she turned. There was a crack of pulsing thunder and air washed over her a as a half-sphere of light formed not twenty feet away. The backwash pushed her onto her back and she had to roll to void a sweeping blow. She saw a group of figures standing in the light and when it receded, they were fully there. Five of them, well over ten feet tall, in hulking, snouted armor that clanged and clattered when the moved. The leader… the leader was _Toji. _His head was too big and the scars, but it was him, she'd know that face anywhere, and… and…

There was another with the giants, who was to them as they were to Hikari. He stood chest and shoulders over them in armor as red as blood, fringed with beaten brass. The pelt of a huge wolf was draped down his back, and in one hand he carried a sword of red crystal, as long as a man was tall. He waved it overhead and motioned forward as there were more cracks of thunder and more of the giant started appearing on the battlefield. Unit One took notice and swung around.

Hikari's jaw dropped. The giant was a mirror image of Shinji. Older, scarred, hair that flowed over the breastplate of his enormous armor, but it was him. He stepped onto empty air as fire of a thousand alien colors wreathed him, lighting the Geofront with a strange glow. The red crystal sword in his hand leapt to life as he swung it, wreathed in flames. A curling crescent of fire formed in front of him and raced across the field and when it hit Unit One, the Eva actually staggered, the blast of energy crashing into its AT-Field, manifesting in the visible spectrum as it deflected the hit. The giant seemed to grow in size, swinging its blade, hurling raw force at the Eva.

Hikari turned around. Her head felt like it was full of air, and her shoulder was a red mass and burning. Her side ached, and her legs were like springs, compressed too long until they could no longer extend. She turned and ran for Shinji and Asuka even as Misato saw the, disengaged from the robot, and joined her. They were too late. The Toji monster stepped up behind them, raising a massive five fingered claw. With the bank of its hand it brushed Asuka away, sending her rolling across the ground. With its other hand, it ran Shinji through, putting two long claws through his belly and out the other side.

Asuka screamed. Hikari stumbled.

The sky fell.

* * *

Pain lanced up Asuka's side as she fell, but it was nothing, a feather floating in the wind. A sudden, crippling, sickening feeling of utter defeat flowed through her as the armored monster stepped up to Shinji and ran him through. The sound of the blades punching through his gut crunched in her ears and she cried out. She was supposed to defend him. Protect him. It was what she was _for. _She had _failed._ The world was falling apart. A giant was hurling waves of fire at Unit One. Hikari was dying. Katsuragi was being beaten to a pulp.

She _failed._

She was on her feet. The fire came. She _was_ fire. She raised her arms and curled her hands fists and it lanced out, washing over the armored beast that bore the Suzahara boy's face. Flames poured over him, blackening his armor, searing his flesh, broiling him in his suit. She screamed and screamed, and her mouth could only form the word _burn_, turned into a long, gurgling streak of anguish. She threw her arms over head and whipped them forward, rolling another gout of flame over him. Screaming, the armored monster stepped backwards, covered in white hot fire.

The sky was falling. The cavern of the Geofront cracked and fell, folding in like a melting cheese. She didn't care. She rushed to Shinji's side, pulling him to her, smearing her uniform with his blood. He grunted, pressing his hand to his wound, and she put his head on her shoulder. He smiled softly at her, his eyes glazing as he looked past her face to the collapsing roof. She saw the failure in his eyes and cursed herself. He was dying in her arms.

She looked down. The blood was flowing back into his wound, soaking from his clothes into the twin gashes, flowing in reverse. He curled against her and coughed.

"There's iron," he rasped, "in your blood."

She held him close and used her fire to keep him warm. It flowed into him, draining from her. Tears turned to steam on her cheeks, lost before they were born. She closed her eyes and touched her lips to his forehead, touching as much of him as she could to share her gift with him.

Unit One raised its arms, and she saw the AT-Field unfurl, deflecting the falling chunks of concrete, earth, and steel. The greater part of the underside of the city crumbled against it, pushing it down, and the Eva tilted to the side, buckling under the pressure. The rumbling crash of the collapsing city filled her ears, and the Evangelion lurched to the side as multicolored flame licked its flank, burning away the armor. A giant of light strode through the heavens, bearing a flaming sword like the avenging angel of the Old Testament. Though tiny before the Eva, it battered the great machine, pounding it back.

More chunks of masonry fell. The city was slowly rolling down into the cavern. The ground shook as the falling debris came to rest on the Geofront floor, and from above, the armored giants rained down from the sky, falling on columns of flame from their backs. They swarmed the exposed Geofront.

The Toji-thing stood up, brushing the flame from its face. Half of its skull was charred, covered in black burns, but still it laughed, rasping out coughing chunk of phlegm as it came on her. She pulled Shinji close to her and pressed her eyes shut. At least she could go with him.

"Stop."

She knew that voice. She whipped her head around. A wave of fear rolled through her. For a moment, she thought Shinji was already dead, and his ghost had come from the grave to punish her for her failure. The apparition was his twin, wreathed in light, clad only in a loose cloth that rolled around him in the air. He strode up to her and the clawed beast had the presence of mind to stop in its tracks and obey. It edged away from him snarling wordlessly.

"He could have prevented this, you know. I offered him the chance to join me."

"He'd never join you," she screamed, "he's _good!"_

He, or it, smirked. He dropped something on the ground, a blackened, charred hunk of metal, still steaming. She knew a mask when she saw it.

She screamed.

"Ah, that I could have that sound to lull me to sleep each night."

"This one is _mine." _

The leader of the giants strode across the field. He too wore Shinji's face, old and scarred, his hateful eyes framed by a mane of black hair that hung around his shoulders. He towered even over the monstrosities he commanded, bearing the great red sword over his shoulder.

"You said you would deal with the Eva."

The gleaming phantom turned, sighed, and stepped. As he walked, he doubled in size with each stride. Asuka blinked, her mind reeling as she attempted to comprehend and failed. Within his light she saw alien geometries, cascading unfoldings of meaning that left her speechless, unable to tear her gaze away. He was as tall as the Eva and seized it by the neck, lifting it bodily from the ground. He reached around behind it, curled his glowing fingers around the umbilical cable, and snapped it.

"You're attached to him," the giant said. "I am Iquarius, the Primarch of the Crimson Vengeance. At least by my hand, his death will be swift."

Asuka screamed. She raised her hand and hurled a torrent of flame at him, but he waved it aside as if it were nothing. His huge hand shot out, clamped around her throat, and dragged her up, lifting her off her feet. She grabbed at his wrist, gasping for air.

The Primarch looked up. Something was falling out of the sky.

* * *

Hikari rolled over. Her right arm wouldn't move, and her left leg was a cold, dull mass. Every breath tattooed a new roadmap of pain across her side and her chest. She tried to sit up, and failed. The monsters were winning. The monster picked Asuka up by her neck and left Shinji curled around the wound in his belly, trying to force his own blood back in with his powers. She raised her hand, curled her two fingers in, and fired a thin streamer of web. It missed the monster's leg by a good foot. It looked down at her, contempt written on Shinji's features. It stole his face. She hated it.

Its huge foot came down on her arm. She felt the bones pop. It was academic, really. Cold tendrils curled around her vision, and the world was becoming a dark tunnel. Unbidden, images flooded her mind. Shinji's beautiful face filling her sight as she kissed him. Kodama and Nozomi, smiling. She saw her mother, a distant glimpse of a forgotten kindness, a blurred remembrance of a kind face and a soft voice and warm arms.

_It can't end like this, _she thought, _please, somebody help us_.

She lifted her arm.

Or else, it was lifted.

Something filled her hand. Her fingers curled around it.

She saw a distant city hidden in shadow, made of gold and dreams. She saw two figures standing astride a rainbow, watching her. The one spoke to the other.

"_Is there nothin__g we can do for them?"_

"_This world is closed to us, my son." _

"_And yet there must be some aid we can grant them." _

"_Of course. Am I not the Allfather? Behold." _

She heard an old man's kindly whisper, full of quiet strength and ancient wisdom.

"_Whosoever lifts this hammer, if s_he_ be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor."_

The alarms woke Mana. A red light flashed in her cell, and the door drifted open. She slid onto her feet and walked very slowly to it, struggling to bear her own weight, breathing hard. The collar around her neck sapped all her strength, made it impossible to do much more than lie on her cot and breathe. She pulled feebly at it barely able to lift her own arm. She nearly fell on her way to the door. It was like her skeleton was too heavy to move. She supposed it was.

There was a rippling boom, and the door swung inward. She fell against the wall, grunting. The impact _hurt_, a ripple of pain rolling through her arm as the weight of her bones compressed her flesh against it. She whimpered and nearly sank to her knees, but managed to struggle onto her feet. If she fell down, it was over. She looked at her shoulder. It was a massive bruise, and it wasn't going away like it should. She couldn't remember much, only fading bits and pieces, the sight of a mushroom cloud and shadows in the shape of a familiar presence, forever etched onto a wall in some place she'd long forgotten. She remember Shinji, though, entering her mind and driving the evil out. She had to help him somehow.

She didn't have a choice. She put her hand up to her chin, lifting the collar up on her knuckles. She had to pray it worked. If it didn't, she'd be in even worse shape. She took a breath, one, two, three, and then clenched the muscles in her arms. She cried out and sank down as the thin slivers of metal erupted from between her knuckles and lanced up under the collar. A hot wash of blood flowed down over her hand, she'd cut her throat open. The world started to go dark.

She was lucky. The claw went under the collar. She pulled down, letting gravity do most of the work. The metal parted as easily as butter and it clanged onto the floor. She felt renewed, retracted her claws, and watched as the skin closed around them. She ran her hand over the wound on her neck, and drew away blood, but felt no cut. It was easy to stand up now, and though blood stained her white jumpsuit, she was none the worse for wear. She kicked out of the thin shoes she'd been given and walked barefoot into the hall, sniffing.

Doctor Doom came through the wall.

She barely got out of the way in time. A flash of light filled her eyes even as she pressed them shut, and she rolled away, hitting the wall hard. A pile of rubble and dust and broken rebar slid across the floor as the mass of Doom's armored form plowed through it, landing on his back. He rolled over with surprising deftness and was on his feet with stunning quickness, moving too fast for the mass he carried. Mana got up and reflexively popped her claws, ignoring the pain. He foot-claws tapped on the floor as she walked forward, arms out to strike.

Doom looked at her. "Run," he said.

The thing that came through the wall was like a statue of Shinji carved from marble. He stepped lightly over the rubble, and gave her a cursory glance.

"Mana Kirishima. Really," his eyes narrowed, "and you have metal on your bones. I suppose someone thought that was funny."

Doom fired a blast from his gauntlet with a loud crack. Shinji didn't even turn. The energy rippled against an orange hexagon and dissipated harmlessly into the air.

Not-Shinji looked at him. "Victor, please, we've been through this."

Doom roared in fury and the air _bent_ around him. Mana could feel the strange currents around her, tugging at her mind. In front of the armored tyrant a wave of energy formed and rolled forward. This one broke the orange light and pushed the Shinji-thing back, forcing him to raise his hand. Mana blinked. She smelled charred flesh, and she saw something spinning and glowing in his midsection, a red sphere.

"Go now, girl," Doom roared, redoubling his attack. "Run."

Mana didn't need to be told twice. She ran. The corridor took a sharp right ahead, and she nearly crashed into the wall, sliding on the slick floor in her bare feet. There was a large door halfway down to the next junction, hanging open. She stopped in front of it and looked inside. The door itself reminded her of a bank vault, and it was lined with what looked like mines- she could smell the chemical tang of explosives. The entire room was lined with packs of explosives, floor and ceiling and walls. In the center was a gurney and an intravenous drip, and directly above it, a gun aimed at where the occupant's head would be, fixed to the wall.

She smelled someone, and turned around in a hurry, flashing her claws.

A rather meek looking bald Westerner greeted her, raising his hands. "It's okay. I won't hurt you."

She gestured at him with her claws. "Who are you?"

"It doesn't matter," he said quickly. "We need to get out of here before this place collapses."

There was another boom, and the lights flickered. She heard Doom's furious roar, and a cloud of dust rolled down the hallway towards them. She saw cracks spreading in the walls.

"Now," the man repeated.

"Stay behind me," Mana snapped, jogging ahead of him.

She stopped at the next corner, and turned around. There was an elevator here. The guards were dead. Someone had… done something to them. Sicked, she nudged the elevator with her finger, but the button wouldn't light.

"It probably isn't working," said the man.

She rounded on him. "What are you? A killer? A monster? A mutant, like me?"

"I'm a doctor."

"Whatever. Let's go."

Further ahead was an stairwell. Whoever killed the guards at the elevator had been here, too. She pushed the door open and edged inside. The stink of blood overwhelmed her, but she pressed on, covering her nose with her hand. She jogged up the stairs, waiting for the doctor to follow. He came up behind her, panting. She gave him another questioning look and went on, flight after flight. The stairs seemed to go on forever, until they reached the top. The blood trail went through the doors. She pushed them open and went out low, almost on all fours, sniffing the air.

"Come on," she said.

She knew this place. It was Essex' lab. Akagi's labs weren't far from here, up the service tunnel, and from there it wasn't that much further to the surface. She picked up her pace, no longer caring if the doctor kept up with her. She heard him jogging along behind.

Akagi's lab was off from the Eva cages. The door was locked, but she could smell people inside. She went to stick her claw through the gap and cut the lock, but the doctor caught her wrist.

"Why don't we try knocking?"

He rapped on the door with his knuckles.

It opened slightly. Akagi saw her, her eyes widened, and the door slammed shut.

Mana sighed and retracted her claws, and knocked on the door again.

"What do you want?"

"We need to get out of here," Mana shouted through the door. "Doom and… something are going to collapse the prison level."

The door opened. Akagi looked immensely tired. "We're better off in here. The Geofront is collapsing."

"Can we come inside?"

Akagi gave him a look. She pulled a pistol out of her pocket.

"You won't need that."

She opened the door.

The little lab was packed with people, mostly students from the school. They recognized Mana and edged away from her, and she felt a pang of regret. The doctor edged inside and closed the door.

"Akagi?" he said.

"Yes?"

He stared at the wings growing from her back. "You're not Naoko."

"Ritsuko. I'm her daugher."

"_Daughter? _But you look like you're in your thirties."

"I'm twenty-nine," Akagi snapped. "Who the hell are you, anyway?"

"It's not important. What's happening upstairs?"

Akagi looked from the doctor to Mana to her assistant and back. "I don't know. We're under attack. Communications are all down, there's no satellite uplinks, but we heard something about Beijing being wiped out before the comms went down. We can't get ahold of anyone on the surface, the land lines have all been cut."

"It may be for the best to stay here," the old man, Fuyutsuki said, pushing through the students. "The structure of the cages provides reinforcement, and-"

"Everyone be quiet," Mana snapped, crouching.

She heard, and she smelled. Footsteps, _big _footsteps, were moving through the hall. She edged closer to the door and flicked out her claws, sniffing the air. The footsteps grew nearer and nearer, shaking the floor. The door bent, twisted, folded in and then yanked back out. On the other side was a walking nightmare. Ten feet tall, it hefted a heavy sword wreathed in crackling blue light. Flaps of what had to be skin hung from its massive shoulder pauldrons, and it grinned at her with teeth filed to sharp points.

The doctor stepped in front of her.

"You should leave," he said.

The monster edged forward, ducking under the door frame. There were two others behind him. He had to twist sideways to fit through.

"Or _what?"_

"You'll make me angry. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

* * *

Rei stumbled. Pain lanced through her midsection as a wave of heat and force rippled across Unit One's torso, driving her back. The world above her was tilting lazily, the foundations of the city resting on her AT-Field while something striding across the air was hurling blasts at her, driving her back. She felt as harp stabbing pain in her belly and twisted, and lost her concentration. The AT-Field flickered. Her connection to Unit One felt like she was wading through mud, the Eva's movements barely registering in her mind. The optics cracked, and suddenly she was half blind, her vision split into a spiderweb of fragments.

She tried to manifest her field once again, but her synch ratio was dropping. The connection was unstable. The foundations of the city came down on her head. A long, flat slab hit her arm, and she clutched her shoulder as the sympathetic pain shuddered through her, making her clench her teeth. The Eva twisted lazily, its massive feet slipping on the soft Geofront floor, and streams of gunfire erupted towards her from the surface. She tried to concentrate, to still herself and let the synchronization grow, but there was a sudden, sharp splinter in her mind.

Images filled her. She saw torrents of blood swirling on open fields, waves of gore lapping at a mountain of skulls treading high into an ochre sky lanced by lightning made of pain. A sudden sick twisting in her stomach made her lurch as her bile rose, her nostrils filled with a ghastly, unimaginable stench. She was suddenly aware of the heavy LCL in her lungs and every inch of the plugsuit squeezing her body, driving her mad. She lost all concentration, and the Eva sank.

She saw him. Shinji's face filled her view, his skin as white as snow, a giant's eyes boring into her own. A hand clamped down over her throat, crushing her windpipe with invisible force, and the timer began counting down to zero. Her umbilical was gone. The gleaming white giant reared back and plunged his hand into the Eva's belly, cutting through the armor and enhanced flesh with ease, reaching for the core. She vomited into the LCL, choking and sputtering.

Her hand found the ejector lever. She pulled.

The world went dark and the sudden cutoff from synchronization fell on her like a blade. She held on for dear life as the entry plug spiraled out of the Eva, rocketed back by the ejection jets. A sudden weightlessness overcame her as the plug lost its momentum and plummeted skyward. She pushed into the seat and waited.

The impact nearly rocked her out of the seat. One of the butterfly controls came off in her hand. She thrashed to the side as the plug rolled, and finally lost her grip. She hit the inner wall hard, pressed against it by the rolling momentum of the plug. It came to a stop with a heavy crunch, rolling over onto the hatch.

Rei stood up, ducking under the curved wall, breathing heavy. Her mouth felt full, and her tongue touched her fangs. She pushed at the side of the plug, trying to turn it, only for it to rock back into place. Her hands curled into fists. She grabbed her gloves and pulled, and the gloves of her plugsuit tore free.

She lifted the rotating handle on the plug hatch and twisted it until it unlocked, grunting with effort. She bore down on it with all her weight, but it refused to budge. Panting, breathing in the rapidly coooling LCL, she ran to one side, then the other, turning the plug with her momentum. It began to roll, and the sloshing of the liquid pushed the hatch open. It flooded out, yanking her off her feet. The plug started to roll over, threatening to crush her between the door and the plug itself, but she wriggled free, sliding in the mud.

She looked up in time to see Unit One die.

The giant of light raised the limp Eva overhead, and tendrils of his flesh merged with it, seeping under the armor plates, spreading across it. The Eva's outer carapace fell like rain, crashing down around him in great splashes of mud. She saw the creature itself, Unit One's true being, as it writhed and screamed silently in protest as its flesh was drawn into that of the giant and they folded together in a writhing mass that stood, folded, and began to shrink. Her mouth fell open.

There was a light. Something came down from the sky, not falling but flying downwards. It split the cloud cover overhead, opening an ring of open sky full of stars. A bolt of lightning followed it, casting an eerie light across the battlefield. A peal of thunder rolled over her, so loud it made her ear drums hurt, ringing for a moment after.

Hikari Horaki rose up, resplendent. A shining white cloak of spun silver flowed behind her, covering a suit of gleaming white armor. A winged helm was on her head, and in her hand she raised a hammer, lifting it high for all to see. Her voice rolled across the battlefield like a thunderclap.

"_Destroyer of hopes, usurper of dreams! You stand not unopposed, for this world defends itself! Face now the might of Asgard, villains! Thou stand against _**THOR!" **

"Inspiring."

Rei spun around. At first, she thought it was von Doom, but it couldn't be. The girl facing her was taller, older, dressed in an airy, diaphanous gown, and she radiated a strange power that set Rei's teeth on edge. Two others walked with her, one she did not know, yet looked familiar, an older girl in twintails and glasses… and Horaki.

Rei blinked.

"I'm sorry," the older Asuka said playfully, "but there's only going to be one queen of the vampires in this multiverse. You're going to die now."

Rei balled her hands into fists. "Let's go."

* * *

The Primarch faced that which could not exist. From the moment he was taken in by the Emperor he embraced the Imperial Truth. He had seen a world dying in the grip of hateful xenos masquerading as divinities, heard the pathetic prayers of men who saw godhood in that which was merely the workings of alien life, no more divine or holy than the works of men. He denied God and Gods and rooted himself in a secular universe where even the strangeness of his own existence could be explained by science and reasoning. The religions of old Terra were lies. There were no gods.

Yet now he faced a chooser of the slain, bearing down on him with the hammer of Thor.

The girl was girl no longer. She swept the hammer in an arc over her head, whirling it by a lanyard strap fixed to the haft, and hurled it. The head sought him like a missle and with a crack of ceramite he was hurled backwards, cast down into the mud. He grabbed the hammer, releasing his own blade, twisting his psychic might about it, and yet it refused to budge. In his hand he felt leather and wood and steel, and yet when the girl raised her hand, it tore from his grasp and returned to hers, called. She was no longer afraid of him. He saw contempt.

"Now, learn the difference between the mighty works of man and the arts of Asgard."

The Primarch roared in challenge and took up his mighty sword, forged from the very core of Unit One, the betraying monster that corrupted his mind and stole the life he should have led. He poured his will into it, setting the air around him ablaze, and bore down on the Valkyrie with all his fury. The stroke of his sword crashed against the head of the hammer and she batted it away, spun the bulk of the hammer around, and smashed it into his face.

Pain, alien in its intensity, flickered through him. He felt his jaw crack, a tooth fly free. He fell again, landing hard on his side. His wolf cloak was thick with mud, his resplendent armor bent and broken, the chest plate bearing the wing angel with a body of rubies and wings of alabaster cracked in half, the holy icon broken and chipped.

He rose to his knees and brought his sword around. The Valkyrie didnt wait. She caught the blade in one hand, grunting from the force of his swing, and raised her hammer high. Thunder rippled overhead, and the hammer fell. The blade of his sword shattered, cracked in half, and he fell backwards, holding the hilt and the broken remnants of the blade in his hand.

He howled in fury, and rose to the attack, seizing her with his bare hands. He had broken the neck of a greenskin warboss one handed. He had weather the witchfire of an eldar xenos sorcerer to crush the filthy alien's skull between his fingers. He had unmade the monstrous abomination that imitated his mother, broken the Nagisa-thing and driven it in the dust. He would not fail so easily.

The next blow of the hammer nearly knocked him unconscious. The world went dark for a bare second, and he stumbled. Suzahara

_Toji_

Lay on the ground, a charred ruin, his armor melted. The Valkyrie

_Hikari_

Was bringing her hammer around again. She drove it into his midsection, under his breastplate, and the breath went out of him. Where was the Other, the one who brought him on this mad quest? Consuming the Eva, as he always did.

He saw something emerge from the glass pyramid, tear loose with a pair of his Astartes in its hands. It brought the battle brothers together in a great clash, then tossed them aside as if they were nothing. Immense and hulking, he first identified it as a greenskin, but there were none of their feral kind in the other universe he had seen. This one was too large, too well built, too _human_.

The abomination roared "Hulk _**SMASH!**_" and charged across the field.

She broke his _sword._

The Primarch screamed. The world around him shook with his fury. HIs hands wreathed in witchfire, he seized the Valkyrie and spun her around, raising her and slamming her into the mud, where old gods belonged. Whatever device had granted her these gifts, it was some deception, some untruth. He hammered her with his fists in turn, pounding her into the dust.

He turned and cried out to his Legion. "_Bring me the girl alive! Kill the rest! Kill them all!" _

The Valkyrie flashed out from under him, whirling the hammer over her head. He managed to dodge her swing, caught her arm on the return, and brought his armored fist into her face. Her head snapped backwards with a rewarding thump. Still holding her arm, he brought his knee up into her midsection, lifting her feet from the ground.

Lightning raced down from the sky. Searing heat ran through his body, and he smelled his own flesh charring. The thunderclap came a moment later, and he reeled onto his back, sliding in the muck. The Valkyrie stood over him, raised her hammer high, and brought the haft down on his chest. Lightning, white hot, lanced down out of the sky, through the head of the hammer and into the Primarch.

Time slowed. He remembered standing on the slopes of Asama, the volcanic soil crumbling beneath his feet. How long ago had that been? How long had he warred across the stars? A century? More? How many human lifetimes had he spent on the Great Crusade, how many generations of mortal men lived and died while he slaved to an uncaring father and Asuka, his Asuka, the _real_ Asuka remained silent as a grave, an everliving reminder of his failure? Had it not seemed impossible then, too? Was she not doomed to die in the volcano?

_Yes,_ a tiny voice whispered, _if not for me._

He shook his head. He grabbed the Valkyrie's legs and pushed her to the side, rolling out of the mud onto his feet. He threw the shattered sword aside. He no longer required it. No matter how she presented herself, it was still a trick, the hammer some technological toy, a deception meant to overawe him.

He caught her next swing, grasping her forearms, and turned it, pouring all his strength into brushing her aside. He turned her, pushed into her with his shoulder, and knocked her flat, then planted his foot on her chest.

"_Brothers!" _he roared, "_Blood and death! Slay them to the last, let none survive!" _

The Valkyrie looked up from under his foot.

"I give you one chance, villain. Surrender now, or face the full might of Thor."

Iquarius laughed at her.

With a savage cry, the Valkyrie swung the hammer up and brought the heady head square into his knee. His armor crumpled and his leg folded to the side. He howled in agony, and he felt the tenor of the battle change around him. The Berserkers turned and headed for their stricken warlord, bearing down on them as one. As he fell, through the pain he saw victory.

Until the strike. A wall of invisible force formed between the Primarch and his sons, stopping them cold. A woman in armor raised gauntlet-weapons at him, and another in a long coat gestured, shoving his sons back with an invisible force field. A _thing_ covered in heavy lumps of rocky armor charged across the field, raising his arms high.

The Valkyrie spun the hammer and hurled it. It clapped him across the chin and snapped his head back, and he stumbled. His wounded leg folded under him and he fell back, splashing in the mud.

_If not for me._

Time slowed. The ancient voice whispered in his mind.

_I saved her. _

Iquarius glanced over his ruined chestplate and saw the girl, the imitation of his shining star, the sun that lit his heavens. That was all any of them were, imitations, ghosts, copies. His Asuka was real, the others were nothing. He was not cruel to them. He only wanted to bring her back.

_I can help you._

The Valkyrie was on her feet, hefting her hammer, testing its weight in her hand. She scowled at him.

"Call off your minions, brigand. I'll not warn you again."

_They have a god. Why don't you?_

He tried to sit up, but his leg protested. He felt the weight of his years settle on his shoulders, felt _old_. How long _had_ it been. Was anyone on his world still alive? How old would they be now? What else had the years stolen from him?

_You only wished to be what she wanted you to be. We can save her together._

He looked past the Valkyrie. His prize was so close, so close. She would be like him, perfect, eternal. He would never be lonely again. What was the Emperor, but no more his father than Gendo? For all his gifts, he was ever alone, apart, but for her.

_We can save her._

"I'll do anything," he whispered.

His leg still hurt, but the pain was different, now, like the same song in a different key. Pain was his friend, his ally. He resolved himself to it. It simply meant he was injured, no more. He stood up, as light as a feather. His head swam, his eyes filling with stars as he stood, but he felt renewed. The sudden weight on his chest and the itchy feeling of oil in his hair was a comfort, like a settling blanket. The Valkyrie hesitated.

"What have you done?"

Iquarius sneered. He reached for his psychic gift, drawing on his pain as a focus. He curled up his rage and despair and the creeping knowledge that one day, even in the stasis field, she would draw her last breath. He hurled it before him in a wave of anguish that took physical form as green witchfire and rolled over his adversary, pushing her back. She raised her hammer to shield herself, but the flames broke around her like water on rocks. The field opened before him.

The woman in the overcoat screamed, and her field collapsed. The rock-thing stood between her and the onrushing horde, battering the Crimson Vengeance aside, but he was one and they were many.

His doppleganger feebly lifted his hand. "Asuka," he croaked.

A pang of terrible anguish rolled through the Primarch. He embraced it, and made it his own. They were only copies, an illusion. The God-child had promised him so. That was the answer to the Riddle of Steel.

The girl took his hand. The boy lifted his head.

"There's so much metal here," he said.

Iquarius did not know fear, but he knew reason. When he saw a battle-brother's back reactor unfold, tearing apart, he knew. He threw his arms up to shield himself from the blast. The boy raised his hand and grunted, and shoved the Primarch back. The Valkyrie was on him again, shouting a wordless battle cry and whirling her hammer. The blows rained on his arms and chest, cracking the ceramite, jarring his body. Each one brought a new world of pain and he embraced it all, for he was real and the rest was illusion.

The tenor of the battle changed. Others appeared, a shaggy man with metal claws, a warrior with a star-marked shield. The fighting became intense, close, hand to hand. Chainsword swung, bolters barked, everywhere there were explosions. Iquarius slammed his fist into the Valkyrie's face, again and again. Let her protest, let her brag, let her chide him. His victory was inevitable, inevitable as death and decay.

Somehow, it all slowed. Everyone was looking up. Even the Emperor's own son, perfect in his power, gaze skyward. The air folded, and just like that, a starship appeared in the heavens, blotting out the Milky Way far overhead, and was wreathed in fire as it fell, like the mythological phoenix. A panic settled in over the fighting. Bolts and blasts from the Decepticon's weapons lanced up at it, disappearing into the flames.

Borne in the belly of a flaming warship, heroes rained from the heavens.

* * *

Rei ducked. Thunder rolled through the Geofront, followed by flashes of light. The trio of vampires encroaching on her gave the source of the sound a cursory glance. They seemed to move in tune with their leader, the Soryu-thing, almost like puppets. Rei crouched and edged away from them, spreading her weight on her hands and feet. She didn't want to slip in the mud.

The others stopped, and Asuka moved closer to her. Too tall and too thin, she wore white robes that were untouched by the dirt and mud, even where they should have dragged through the puddle of muck where the LCL had drained from the plug. She smelled wrong, and she was cold, like a statue. Her skin was as pale as Rei's own, and her pupils had darkened into a deep purple, almost black, while the whites were unblemished.

"What are you?" Rei hissed, edging further away.

"I said, I am the Queen of the Vampires. I don't know what you are. Some abomination, some insult to my kingdom. I'm afraid I'm going to have to kill you now."

She moved so fast, Rei could barely see her. Iron hard fingers clenched on Rei's throat and lifted her from the ground, her feet kicking under her. The Soryu-thing stared into her eyes, tilting her head as Rei clawed at her arm, desperately trying to scrabble free.

"You're _alive_," the creature murmured, "not one of my children at all. A counterfeit. A copy. Die."

Her arm twisted and Rei felt a choking pressure on her throat, and heard her vertebrae grinding. She wasn't going to give in this easily. She hissed, her fingernails extended, and she raked them down the Soryu-thing's arm, drawing long, bloodless wounds in her pale flesh. The thing screamed and recoiled, clutching her arm.

"She hurt me! She _hurt! Me! Kill her!"_

The other two charged. Rei ducked a clumsy swing, bringing her first into the Horaki creature's chest. She felt bones pop from the impact. Her hunger snarled within her and her jaws fell open wide, her incisors extending. She gnashed her teeth at the air as she grabbed the Horaki creature, dragged her around, and shoved her into the other one. She ran for the Soryu-thing, snarling and snorting in fury.

It was stronger than the others. It turned Rei's advance, grabbing her wrists, and they rolled in the mud. Rei ducked to the side, avoiding a punch that buried the vampire's arm in the mud to the elbow. Rei slid out from under and tried to force her down into the mud, but she was too strong. With every hearbeat, Rei's hunger grew more intense. She felt the creature's fingers sink into her, stabbing pains from her abdomen rolling through her body. She ignored it, opened her mouth so wide she could feel her bones grinding together, and clamped down on the thing's shoulder.

It screamed. Rei drank deep, sucking until her cheeks hollowed. The Soryu-thing rolled, spun, screamed, trying to to pry her off. Finally, she battered Rei's head with her fists, and clamped down on her head, pulling her away. Rei struggled to hold on, cold, dark blood flowing over her chin. She snarled as she was pushed back.

"Get her _off!"_

The others grabbed her. Rei's head was pounding. She felt stronger now. The pain in her belly was gone, and the others tugging at her were nothing. She spun them around and slammed them into the entry plug and ducked down on all fours. Clutching her wounded shoulder, the Soryu-thing spun, and a mist rose around her, swirling to match the movement of her pristine white gown. Rei dashed into it but hit only empty air. She sniffed the air, but a cloying, sticky sweetness filled her nostrils.

She sensed something in the distance, a familiar scent, and ran towards it. There was a roaring void in her belly, a hunger like she'd never known before. She was charging through the mud on all fours, caked in mud, dark gore caked on her chin.

"Rei?" a soft voice said.

She looked up. Familiar voice, familiar scent.

"Rei, it's me," said Toji. "How…"

She bolted at him, threw her arms around him in a crushing embrace, and rolled him to the ground. She bit down on his neck full force, not even trying to bite in but to tear it out. He threw his arms around her in return and rolled. In the slick, grass-riddled mud, they slid, covering each other in muck. He rolled on top of her and his crushing weight pinned her down. He struggled to pull his neck out of her jaws but her grip was too tight.

"Rei," he croaked, "You're choking me."

Her jaw went slack. He lifted up, resting one hand on her head. He still had her pinned down.

"Rei," he pleaded, staring int her eyes. "Rei, please. Don't be like this."

All she could see was the veins pulsing in his throat. She was _hungry._

"Kill me," she hissed, "Something's… something's wrong…"

He didn't do anything of the sort. He kissed her.

She bit down on his tongue. He screamed and tried to pull away. Her teeth wouldn't go through it. Shaking from the pain, he closed his eyes and gave in to her, pressing his lips to hers even as she chewed on the muscle. Something familiar flickered in her. She released him and her tongue slid over his, and her hand moved up his back, resting on the side of his head. Her heartbeat slowed from a rapid fire pounding and her breaths drew out as she relaxed, collapsing into the mud. He finally pulled away from her, gasping.

"I can't breathe," he panted, collapsing on her.

She blinked. His clothes were torn and scorched and he was covered in cement dust and mud and bits of metal and dried blood. He was Toji. She put her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she gasped.

He got up on his knees. She slipped in the mud and held her up. She was so tired, suddenly. Everything was happening at once. The world was a mad chaos, the pair of them in a tiny bubble around which the battle raged. In every direction there was the loud, thumping blasts of the invader's weapons and jets were flying over head raining down fire from energy weapons. She looked over Toji's shoulder and saw five green robots joining together, clanging and slamming into one mass as they rose up as a larger titan of a machine that stomped out across the field, roaring incoherently.

"You're going to be okay," said Toji.

"Yes," said Rei.

Toji broke down. His tears carved little channels in the muck on his face. "I don't know what's going on. They were killing everyone. I couldn't find my sister, and then everything started falling…"

Rei felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She looked up, and blinked her eyes shut as there was a flash. A titanic vessel just _appeared_ in the sky, filling a space that before had been only empty air. It immediately plummeted earthward, wreathed in the plasmic flame of reentry.

Toji sucked in a breath.

"What is that? Are they here to kill us, too?"

"I don't think so," said Rei. "They're shooting at the invaders."

Objects were tumbling out of the side of the ship. They made no sense. She saw a red cab-over tractor and trailer, a tiny yellow car, a garishly red tank, a minivan. A small vessel hurtled from the other side, trailing a long contrail behind it. Just as it appeared, the ship vanished, leaving a howling void that filled itself in with a rush of air and a sudden, hollow boom.

The falling vehicles changed shape in mid-air and attacked the other robots.

"Let's go," said Rei, standing up.

"Are you sure?"

"We must fight," said Rei, "or we will die."

* * *

Mari's mind was rolling a mile a minute, her internal dialogue a blender of various thoughts. Thoughts such as _they're shooting at me _and _Captain America is __**right next to me**_**. **She had her helmet off -the HUD and eyepieces were out commission- and was eyeballing the shots from her hand repulsors. It didn't matter. She was in a target rich environment. She had a simple task: Keep them off the kids.

She'd never dreamed of anything like this. Cap was _graceful_, like water. Nothing could touch him. The armored giant's enormous shells burst on his shield and he just shrugged them off, then hurled at them, knocking their weapons out of their hands, cracking their skulls. Sue Storm gestured and invisible tides of force swept across the battlefield, cramming the monsters together in invisible boxes.

Hikari Horaki had become a god.

She was locked in a titanic struggle with the leader of the giants. They hammered each other with blows that shook the Earth. She had to focus, tear her eyes away from it. Ben Grimm, fast and agile for all his ponderous bulk, stepped behind her and blocked an exploding shell.

"Watch it, kid!" he shouted, and then he was gone, charging an oncoming rush of monsters.

There was something in the sky, and allies were falling out of it. It lit the night like a second sun, and cars and tanks and airplanes were pouring out and turning into robots on the ground. They turned on the others. There was a big red one that was a truck a second ago fighting another one with a cannon on his arm. That damned red jet rocketed over her head.

She didn't need the suit's files to identify the people around her anymore. Logan was tearing into the armored giants. She watched him take blows that would fell a normal man a dozen times over, get back up, and join the attack.

Somebody in an Iron Man suit landed next to her, crunching in the mud. His suit was heavier and taller than hers with a heavy back pack and sculpted shoulders, and it looked like it had been modeled on Unit One, the Eva. She rounded on him, aiming her repulsors.

"Who the hell are you and where did you get Stark tech?"

The helmet opened. The guy inside looked really familiar. For a second she thought it was Kaji, but the chin was wrong and his eyes weren't the right color. He had the stubble, though. She kept her weapons aimed, shouting.

"Answer me!"

He raised his hands, keeping his palms turned away from her. "It's complicated. We're on your side."

"Then who are you?"

"We're the democratic response."

Something, an artillery shell or a mortar, came screaming in and blew not twenty yards away, throwing up a thick corona of mud. The new guy rocketed past her, blocking the shrapnel with an orange force field.

"You should be wearing a helmet! Where's your power plant?"

She tapped her chest. "Right here."

"Wow, that's a lot smaller than- _get down!" _

He stomped forward and lifted her up, spun her around, and turned the blow of a snarling chainsaw sword on his arm, sending hot sparks sizzling into the mud. They both turned and opened up on the beast with their hand repulsors.

"I'd really like to trade notes, but we have to stop these things."

"What the hell are they after?"

"The worst thing you can think of."

His head snapped to the left as he saw something over his shoulder.

"No! _Get away from them!" _

Iqarius stumbled backwards, his tongue licking over the gap in his jaw where a tooth had been thrown loose by the jolting impact of the hammer head. He refused to acknowledge that it was what it presented itself as. There was no Thor, only a little girl with a powerful toy. The bones ground in his leg, and yet he was on his feet, battering her with wichfire. The comm bead in his ear crackled.

"My Lord," Aida said sharply.

The Primarch snarled. He had no time for his subordinates now. If they failed him he would grind them all to dust with his bare hands.

"My Lord, we must retreat."

"_Never!"_ he roared, "_What are the words of our Legion?"_

"We're losing. Commanders report intense resistance around the planet. We are being thrown back. There is more, My Lord, I-"

His words were lost in a furious roar as Iqarius seized the hammer head and wrenched it, trying to tear it out of the girl's grip. She swung it one handed, dragging him with it, and it slipped out of his fingers. She whirled it over her head and hurled it into his chest. Shards of cracked ceramite tumbled free, exposing the mechanics within. He felt the impact in his chest as his ribless torso punched inwards. He hacked a mass of bloody phlegm and spat it to the ground, wiping at his lip with his gauntlet.

"Communications are being restored, and the Libararians tell me they sense… _entities_ turning their attention towards us."

Iqarius spat again. "Fools, all of you."

"No."

He snapped his head. The God-child was there, and was the only thing in the world that was clean. He brushed Iquarius aside and stopped a blow of the hammer with the palm of his hand. His dark crimson gaze fixed on the girl.

"You have something that belongs to me."

His hand slid down the hammer head and he grasped the shaft.

"We shall see," said the Valkyrie, and let go.

The God-child struggled to hold the hammer aloft, his body shaking. The red nimbus of his core formed in his belly as it grew red hot, dumping its limitless power into his flesh. Quivering, he took the hammer with both hands, grunting with exertion. Slowly, inexorably, it buried itself head-first in the muck.

The Valkyrie raised her hand and the hammer sought her palm as if it were part of her, and jammed the hammer head into the God-child's chest. It knocked him square off his feet, and he slid in the mud, eyes wide.

"I know what you are, and you are not welcome here."

He scrambled to his feet, recoiling from her. _"Impossible_. Iquarius, distract her. I will gather our prizes. We are leaving."

"_**NO!" **_the Primarch roared. "They must all die! _Kill them all!"_

The God-child ignored him. He turned to the Valkyrie, marshalling his will. He was met with the block head of the hammer to the side of his skull. The blow turned him. He swung his hands around but he was fast, clumsy. She was under his swing and inside it. She swung the hammer around and brought it up under his elbow. It crunched through the ceramite and plasteel and he felt his arm shatter, a lance of pain running to his shoulder. He laughed, welcoming it. Was not pain his greatest ally?

His arm hung as he reached for her throat. She whirled the hammer over her head and leapt, turning like an acrobat in the air, and landed behind him. She landed a two handed blow in the small of his back, crashing through his armor into his spine. On the recovery she spun and knocked his other leg out from under him, shattering his femur. The Primarch crumpled, landing hard in the mud.

Suzahara was on his feet. Half of his face was a smoldering ruin, the other a slack mask of hate. What was left of his mouth hung open in a toothless rictus of fury, his single eye was full of rage. One arm hung limp at his side, but the other he raised and raked his power claw across the Valkyrie's back. She turned, raised the hammer, and hesitated.

Her voice was soft, familiar. "Toji? What they do to-"

Iquarius called on all the hate in his heart, gathered up all the sorrow he felt, the cold anguish as his light and life lay limp in his arms, her life and her soul stolen by monsters from beyond the stars. He raised up a litany of fury and cast it forth from his mind as a bolt of pure energy. The Valkyrie turned, the hammer taking some of the force, but it rolled her along the ground in a trail of psychic hoarfrost.

Suzahara leaned by his side, resting his power claw on the ruins of the Primarch's chest.

"Kill them," he rasped, "Kill them all."

"Bluh…" Toji said, the ruin of his face distorting his words. "Bluh for the bluh gauh…"

The God-child's voice rang out in his mind. _Brace yourself._

Asuka drew back, pulling Shinji with her. He was barely awake, breathing hard, concentrating now on holding his own blood in. She could feel it through her touch. He hurt so much, the pain was beyond anything she'd ever felt. She didn't know how he wasn't screaming. She leaned back against a rock and pulled him close.

A statue approached her. He looked like he'd been carved out of white stone. He had an eerie way about him, as though the rest of the world couldn't touch him. He loomed over them, staring through her with crimson eyes. He looked at Shinji.

"Look at me."

Shinji opened his eyes.

"You're coming with me."

"Like hell," Asuka snarled. She held Shinji close.

"Wake up. We can take him."

"You can delay me. That is enough. I'll cut to the chase."

He reached into his chest with both arms. Asuka recoiled as she watched his hands part his own flesh and slide inside. He drew out his fists, held them out, and opened his hands, palms up. Over each floated tiny red points, flickering red orbs of fire like children's sparklers. Asuka fixed her attention on the one on the left.

A tiny voice whispered, _Run._

"Momma," she breathed.

Shinji's eyes flickered open. "Mother? How…"

The _thing_ pushed his hands back inside himself, and drew them out empty.

"I took them from their containers during all of the tussle. I suppose you didn't know. I have your mother's souls. You're coming with me, or… let's just say I can be very _inventive."_

Asuka was shaking. She raised her fist, and fire sprung from her skin. "Get away from us."

He seethed. The red sphere in his gut went white hot, and she could see his bones through his skin, like blackened cinders hidden in white jelly. His voice became a sharp rasp.

"It wasn't a _request."_

Hikari came up behind him, swinging her hammer around. She loose Mjolnir only for him to grunt as it stopped dead, held by an AT-Field. He turned and looked at her with empty eye sockets full of smoldering coals.

"I'm tired of you."

Asuka closed her eyes. Hikari sailed backwards, catching the brunt of a blast that rippled out across the Geofront floor. She tumbled end over end, the hammer falling out of her hand. She rolled onto her side and grabbed it as she landed, but it was too late. The God-Shinji closed his white hot fingers around Asuka's throat and yanked her away from Shinji. He went limp and cold as soon as her touch slipped from him and he toppled to the side, moaning. The God-Shinji reached down and took him by the hair.

The world slowed. She saw a man running towards her and he was on fire. She looked into his eyes.

"_Father!" _

Hikari whirled the hammer over her head by the heavy strap, spinning it to loose, screaming Shinji's name. It left her hand and the world went white.

The grip around her neck released and she rolled across cold metal. She saw Shinji drop beside her, and was sure that he was dead.

Hikari hurled the hammer of Thor and it passed through empty air. The sudden blast of wind made her stumble until she raised her hand again and the haft slapped home in her palm. It was as if she'd always held it. When it touched her skin she was full of _understanding. _

There was an explosion. The beast that wore Shinji's face vanished and took Asuka and Shinji, her Shinji, with him. A single flash of light rolled across the battlefield and the monsters, their giant leader, the robots, all of them were gone, replaced by a tangy stink of ozone and the wind whipping as it filled the voids they left behind them. She looked around and sank to her knees in the mud. The hammer fell at her side.

Hikari wept.

After a time, she looked up. She could the tension in the air. There were machines -other machines- surrounding her. There were more Shinjis. One of them had on armor like that Stark wore, only much larger. She slowly rose to her feet, amazed that the gleaming armor that framed her legs was still so clean. It was as if dirt refused to touch her. She saw others on the field, her friends, and allies, and knew them instantly, as if the hammer would whisper their names.

They were all aiming weapons at each other.

The Avengers -some of them, anyway- were there. Wolverine was there. Peter Parker was there and Susan Storm and Mari Stark wearing her father's armor, battered as it was, and Ben Grimm was there with them and Steve Rogers. She grasped the hammer tightly and looked around. The others she knew as though they were old friends. Optimus Prime and Ironhide, Ratchet and Warpath and Bumblebee. She heard an old man's voice, a distant whisper carried by a howling wind, barely heard at all.

_They are the knights of the imagination, and you have been chosen to join them._

She raised the hammer over her head and spoke in the voice of Thor Odinson.

"Lower your weapons!"

No one moved. She called the thunders to emphasize her point.

"Lower your weapons!"

The tension eased. They put up their weapons. She fixed her eyes on the armored stranger.

"You. Who are you?"

"Shinji Ikari," he said. "It's complicated."

* * *

_You have been reading_

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

Chapter Three: Blood and Thunder

..._and he cried with a great voice, as a lion roareth: and when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices._

* * *

"My Lord?"

Iqarius groaned. Pain lanced though his entire body, up both legs and down his arm. Every breath was a labored effort, grinding the shattered bones of his seamless ribcage against one another. Still, with every rise and fall of his chest, he felt like laughing. The pain was new to him, like a half heard song carried on the wind.

"My Lord?" Aida repeated.

"Speak to me of my legion, my son."

"The Third Company suffered the greatest losses, followed by the Berserkers. Of our deployed force, perhaps three quarters returned to the ships when our… ally teleported us off the planet. Those were not the only losses."

"Continue."

"Some of our number were caught in a battle frenzy and turned on the others. Some we managed to contain. Others were slain in self defense. I had no choice, my Lord. I assumed command in your stead and ordered the fleet to break for warp translation. There were… _things _taking notice of us. The Librarians speak of an eater of worlds."

"What is the disposition of my Legion," Iqarius rasped.

"Tenuous," said Aida. "There are rumors that you have been slain. I fear we may turn on one another again at any moment. We-"

He sat up. His body was a flaring litany of pain, a tapestry of agony. He swung his legs over the side of the gurney and sat up, towering over his son. Aida backed away, covering his hand with his mouth.

"My Lord, you must recouperate, your wounds-"

"Are nothing," he rasped.

He had a choice, and he took it. He felt the bones knit at odd angles, his torn muscles pull together. He breathed out and the shattered bones of his ribless torso ground together into a rigid shape. He took a few steps, staring at the figure that loomed in the polished wall beside him. He was a twisted, hobbled mocker of himself, pale and gaunt. He gave his reflection a gap-toothed grin.

"I feel fine. Where is Suzahara? Did he survive?"

"After a fashion," said Aida.

If he could have paled any further, he would have. "He was interred in a sarcophagus? He will join the ranks of those who serve in death?"

"No, my Lord. It is… more complex than that. Follow me."

Aida turned. The Primarch strode after him, ignoring the lancing pain in his joints. He grew to seek comfort in it, even welcome it. Pain reminded him that he was real. Suffering gave him meaning. He saw this now.

At the far end of the apothecarium was a shadowed cell. Chains rattled as the Primarch approached.

"Not too close, my Lord. He-"

"Silence," Iquarius rasped.

Toji sat in the corner of the cell. Some of his armor was intact, but heavily damaged. The rest… the rest had fused with growths or sores in his flesh, livid and red. His left hand was a mockery of a lightning claw, forged in bone and meat. The left half of his face was a massive open sore, his mouth drawn open in a mocker of a grin. Where his lips twisted open, there were long fangs growing inside. Slick drool ran down his chin.

He looked up at Iquarius. "My lorthhh…" he rasped, "I haff bee _blethhht". _

"Free him," said Iquarius. "There is nothing wrong with him."

God-Shinji looked away from the others, his hands folded behind his back. The others milled around behind him, surrounding the oaken table. Iqarius brooded over them all. He was changed. His face was a sweaty mask of hidden suffering, drawn and pale, his cheeks hollowed, his eyes tinged with an unhealthy yellow pallor. His armor was still cracked and broken, a stitched together mockery of itself.

The others shied away from him.

"We have failed," he rasped, his voice like a chill wind in a boneyard.

"Failed?" said God-Shinji. "How have we failed? I have consumed another Eva. I never had the strength to teleport everyone at once before. You have your prize, and I see you stronger now than ever, coming into the fullness of your power."

"My sons died for your pyhhric victory."

He looked over his shoulder. "You told me you would do _anything." _

"What now?"

"Now, the Kryptonian."

Megatron slammed his fist into the table. "Where is the infinite energy source I was promised?"

"It will be yours, when I am finished with her," Iquarius rasped, "and not before. The Good Doctor will attend to her soon."

Dr. Ikari touched the blade of his knife. "Indeed."

"We must advance quickly, before our enemies devise some means to strike at us," said Iquarius. "They will believe themselves strong enough now, and crushing them would slow us down."

"You sound so sure," said God-Shinji.

"My victory is as inevitable as death. I am the end of all things."

"I am glad you have opened yourself up to new… _possibilities._ Your friends in the Empyrean may be of use to us in the coming conflict. The Kryptonian is the true threat, and he is powerless against sorcery. I have devised a two pronged strategy. We will neutralize him, and call on a powerful ally."

"What manner of ally?" said Iquarius.

"One suited to your Legion's proclivities, my Lord," said God-Shinji, noting that the hint of sarcasm in his voice went unnoticed. "It has so many names. High Handed Slayer. War Given Form. _Bloodthirster."_

* * *

Shinji opened his eyes and saw himself. He watched his counterpart as he took stock of his situation. Asuka was gone. He couldn't move. Bandages were layered around his midsection, but the wounds in his stomach blazed, and he felt feverish and sluggish. There was a heavy metal collar resting around his neck. He feebly reached for his magic and found nothing. The magnetic field was only a distant haze, unreachable. The disconnection wrought by the _thing _that sat on his neck was even more severe than Sinister's collar. He could feel the thing itself, oily and hateful, radiating fury. It seemed like it was, itself, alive. He turned his head.

Asuka was there, but she wasn't _his_ Asuka. She was dressed in a flowing white down that hung down over one shoulder. His counterpart, taller and older and dressed in a doctor's whites, was stitching up her wound.

"It should heal," she said, her voice dripping with worry. "Why won't it heal?"

The doctor shrugged.

"I'm frightened."

She leaned towards him, her eyes lidded. Shinji blinked. The doctor caught her chin and almost roughly pushed her face away.

"I'm not hungry."

She looked hurt. The doctor left her, humming something to himself. The tune was familiar to Shinji. Beethoven, maybe.

Not-Asuka looked at him. She slid to her bare feet and pulled her gown over her shoulder and slunk away, hanging her head.

"Wait," Shinji rasped.

She froze.

"I can heal you."

Her head turned. "What did you say?"

"Not," he coughed. His gut was on fire. "Not your arm. There's…" he winced as a shooting pain ran up his side. "There's something in you and it, it's bad. I can make it go away."

She ran away from him, wide-eyed with horror. The world fuzzed.

* * *

Asuka woke up. The first thing she reached for was the fire, but no fire would come. There was something around her neck. It felt like oily metal, but coiled like a snake, hanging there like a living thing. Kensuke was staring down at her, but he wasn't Kensuke. He was a giant, and in place of his eyes, clicking, whirring lenses were sutured straight into his skull. He gazed at her through bars.

"A fascinating specimen, you are," he mused, touching his chin with enormous fingers. "You're not a mutant at all, did you know that? Wherever that fire comes from, it isn't coming from you."

She opened her mouth, and closed it again. He turned and left her. She moved to the edge of her cell, afraid to touch the bars. The others weren't. They clustered at the edges of their cells. They were all slightly different, all taller or shorter or older or younger, their hair a thousand shades of the same color, their eyes as many blues as there were waves in the ocean, and they were all _her._

Only one cell was empty. The one directly across from hers, filled with a strange, red light.


	4. Grand Theft Superman

_Previously on _

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

**Shinji** Ikari, pilot of Mobile Suit Evangelion Unit 1 awoke to a living nightmare. His world was invaded, its people put to the sword, and the skies set aflame by an army of darkness led by... himself.

Outgunned, outnumber, and trapped aboard the hellish Astartes Battle Barge _Shikinami_, the flagship of the **Crimson Vengeance**, the Legiones Astartes Second Legion led by the Primarch **Iquarius **and his sinister allies, Shinji was forced to flee when his suit's onboard computer triggered an experimental hyperspace jump drive that carried him out of his native universe...

...and into a hostile realm dominated by monstrous aliens that overran the world and destroyed Nerv. Again forced to flee, he jumped without first supplying a destination and found himself in the strange, otherworldly realm of the **Yellow Aliens** and their Great Atrium that houses Yggdrasil, the World Tree. The Aliens charged Shinji with a vital mission: Gather an army of heroes and defeat **The Adversary**, the alternate version of himself who started the war and now threatens to unravel all of space and time in his mad quest to achieve his sinister ends, whatever they may be.

Meanwhile, **Emmett Brown** and **Marty McFly** found their universe thrown into chaos as a terrifying event in their future began cascading backwards through time, threatening to consume them as the entire multiverse begins to skew towards a single disaster- Third Impact.

**Asuka,** a native of Iron Shinji's universe, was unable to escape and fell into the sinister clutches of the Primarch, whose mad goal requires him to collect Asukas from across the multiverse... and he has a particular interest in _her._

To have any chance in defeating his foes, Shinji gathered the **Autobots, Maximals, **and a team of professional paranormal eliminators, who were strange, otherworldly variants of the people he knew from his own life. In addition he gathered an alternate universe version of himself known as **the Hunter**, from a strange and disturbing world overrun by the living dead.

The assembled heroes quickly found themselves charged with the task of leaping headlong into an invasion of the universe known as **Neon Genesis Evangelion: Valkyrie**, a world in turmoil fused with the Marvel Universe. As the Adversary and his forces invaded the found themselves confronted by a gathering of heroes, all variants of the Evangelion cast we know and love. Among them are, of course, Shinji and Asuka, powerful mutants, and Hikari Horaki, formerly Spider-Girl, now chosen to wield the legendary Mjolnir, the hammer of Thor.

Although the forces of evil were forced to retreat, they did not leave the champions of the multiverse unscathed. The world of Valkyrie has neither pilots nor functioning Evangelions, Shinji and Asuka having been kidnapped by the enemy, while Unit One has been consumed by the Adversary himself and Unit Zero was destroyed previously.

Now, the Adversary sets his sights on his most dangerous opponent, the living embodiment of his world's hopes and dreams for a better future... Shinji Ikari, the son of Kal-El, the **Last Child of Krypton...****  
**

**SUPERMAN.**

* * *

No matter how many times he took to the air, the first thought in Shinji's mind was _I can fly._

Now, more than ever, he would fly for the sheer joy of it, throw his arms out and sail through the morning sky, skimming over the rooftops or rolling through the clouds. Today, though, his mind was clouded by dark thoughts. Someone claiming to be his dead father had appeared, proclaiming an incoherent prophecy of doom. The only thing he could do in this situation was take to the air. There were other issues he had on his mind.

Asuka was pregnant.

The thought exhilarated and terrified him at once. He was going to be a father. He, Shinji Ikari, would have a son or daughter. At the same time, Ritsuko was worried. She put it bluntly- Asuka did not have child bearing hips, and even for the only doctor in the world qualified to deal in Kryptonian anatomy, exactly how the process would go was a mystery to them all. Ritsuko even had Kaji help her forge a Kryptonite scalpel, just in case. Standing there in its eerie glow in a lead lined suit, staring at a tiny chip of the only thing that could kill his wife that might also be the only thing that could save her, he could only feel his heart thunder in his chest.

So he flew.

He flew until the air grew thin, but it didn't matter. He no longer needed to breathe. He could fly so far and so fast that the stars turned red and the world slowed to a standstill. He flew to the Moon to drop off rovers. He and Asuka had celebrated their honeymoon with a trip to Olympus Mons.

Resting on the roof of the world, staring down at it through the clouds, it all seemed so small and fragile.

He heard Asuka's voice as clear as a bell. He learned the unique rhythm of her heartbeat, so no matter where in the world she was; he always knew her precise location.

"Get down here, idiot."

He dove. He let the air force his hands to his sides, felt the pressure on his eyeballs as the sound barrier built up in front of him until all he could hear was the rush of his own vestigial breathing and the beating of his heart. He slowed only when he passed thirty thousand feet, just to be sure not to disrupt any passing air traffic. Tokyo-3 was a bustling world city now, the capital of Japan and a hub of science, technology, and commerce. He was so used to it that when he heard a load of passengers in a jetliner scream his name at his passing, he barely registered it.

Built in the excavated valley that was once the floor of the Geofront, the rebuilt city was a jewel of modern design. Everything was covered with greenery, and Ritsuko's automatons were everywhere. Ever since Third Impact was averted it was like her mind was exploded. She drove poor Maya crazy with her twenty hour days, flitting from robotics to medicine to physics with the aid of the Kryptonian archive stowed aboard the rocket that carried Shinji's Kryptonian heritage to Earth.

Birds were chirping when he landed on the balcony of their apartment.

Asuka was sitting on the bed in a diaphanous maternity gown, clutching her rounded stomach.

He sat down next to her, and rested his hand on her belly. He didn't need to touch her to hear the baby's heartbeat. They hadn't talked about a name yet.

"I can't fit into my stupid uniform anymore," she snapped, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"That's probably for the best," said Shinji. "I mean, if you were flying around pregnant it would be pretty obvious who we were."

"Says mister land on the balcony."

He sighed. "I don't think the neighbors are going to spill our secret. What's wrong?"

"I just feel so… _moody._ It's like I go from rage to crying every five minutes."

"So what's wrong?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "That's not funny."

He kissed her cheek. "Yes it is."

She giggled. "Ritsuko called. She says she needs your help with some kind of a project."

Shinji sighed. "My help, or…" he tapped the stylized S on his chest.

"His help," Asuka corrected.

Shinji stood up.

"What are we going to name her?"

He sighed. He knew this was coming. "How do we know it's a girl?"

"It's a girl. I'm sure."

"Did you ask Ritsuko? I thought we agreed on a surprise."

"I just _know,"_ she snapped. "I'm the one carrying her around all the time."

"If I could, I would"

"You'd look ridiculous. So what do you want to name her?"

He sighed, and scrubbed his hands through his hair. "Kyoko?"

Asuka looked at the floor. "I don't think so. I don't think she'd want that… to make me remind myself of what happened to her every time I look at my child. What about Yui?"

Shinji sighed. "I was… no. I said goodbye to my mother."

Asuka shrugged. "Just think about it."

She put her arm across her chest. "I don't think I'm going to fit into my old suit, anyway. I need something that's unique, you know? Not just yours with a skirt."

Shinji sighed. "Don't you have homework, or something?"

"My dissertation is done. The whole speeding bullet thing and not needing to sleep and all that. You'd better get down to the lab before Ritsuko starts pestering me again."

"Fine," he said, wearily, and stepped out through the bedroom window.

The lab was hard to miss. Ritsuko's Institute was built in the ruins of the old headquarters, the entrance guarded by the hollowed out head armor of Unit One. Shinji shuddered a little every time he passed it. Seeing it pulled up too many memories, but the monument it was part of was for everyone, not just him. When he landed at the front gate, Toji walked out to meet him.

"Hey there, Supes."

Shinji sighed. "We're alone, Toji."

"I know, but it's still cool. How's the wife?"

"Pregnant," said Shinji. "How's yours?"

"A cyborg," said Toji. "If I wasn't secure in my masculinity, I'd be resentful."

Toji was the head of security. Hikari Horaki, his wife, was the Institute's head of security. After she was injured test piloting Evangelion Unit Three, Ritsuko rebuilt her arm, leg, and eye using cybernetic parts of her own design, based on the biological-machine interface the Evas themselves used. She was his superior officer, essentially filling Misato's old job, and moonlighting as Shinji's colleague. They weren't alone. Ever since the war ended, people with… _abilities_ had been popping up all around the world. Some, he'd met, others remained quiet. A few paid a visit to the Institute and introduced themselves.

Ritsuko had a notion to start putting together a team, some sort of league.

The woman herself was waiting for him in the lobby. The years had been kind to her. She'd quit smoking and drinking and coffee, and somehow lost weight while looking fuller and healthier at the same time. She no longer bleached her hair and wore it in a long ponytail that she kept bunched up behind her head while she was at work.

"What is it?" said Shinji.

"Let's go to my office."

Her office was underground. Subterranean construction was part of her plan to revitalize the world- the Earth had been badly damaged by Second Impact and the angel conflict, and even with the population nearly cut in half, the future demanded careful use of resources. Ritsuko's vision was of a green, airy world, full of electric cars and advanced fusion powered technology, a new Eden. Despite its subterranean nature it wasn't Gendo's old grim haunt. If anything, it was surprisingly cheerful. A cat hopped up on Shinji's shoulder and nuzzled into his cheek when he stepped inside. He scooped it off his shoulder and held it out in front of him.

"We haven't met," he said drolly. "Who's this?"

"Her name is Streaky," said Misato. "She's a little experiment of mine."

"Should I be worried?"

"Probably. This isn't a social call, Shinji."

"Is it about our guest?"

"No," said Ritsuko. She pulled a file from her desk and handed it to him. "It's about this."

He flipped the folder open. It looked like a radar image. "What is it?"

"This thing just… _appeared_ in orbit a few hours ago. We've been picking up a signal. It's definitely artificial."

"Alien?" said Shinji. "That's incredible. We've never seen any evidence of alien life. Besides me, I mean."

Ritsuko looked gravely at him. "That's the thing. Rei and I have been going over the signal. We think it's Kryptonian."

Shinji dropped the folder. "_What did you say?" _

She took a breath. "The signal may be Kryptonian. We think it's a distress call. I-"

"I'm going to check it out."

"Wait!" she shouted, grabbing his arm.

By instinct alone, she slowed. "Take a communicator bead with you. I want to be in constant contact."

He nodded. "Of course. I should be careful. Are you going to tell Asuka?"

Ritsuko sighed. "I'll leave that up to you. I figured you could get there faster than we could send a probe."

He nodded. "I'm going."

He was in hurry. He jammed the comm bead in his ear, half-ran outside, forcing himself to slow. A sonic boom in the lobby wouldn't be very kind to the cleaning staff, or the glass facade of the pyramid. As soon he was outside, he took off. The sound barrier came and went, and he hit escaped velocity almost instantly. Ritsuko warned him not to push too fast, she was still afraid if he hit the speed of light, he'd be frozen in a paradox for all eternity, at least from his perspective.

The air thinned. The sky grew dark as the atmosphere could no longer diffuse the sun's light. He sucked in a breath, never really sure if he actually needed to, as he rocketed out of the upper layers of the troposphere and into low orbit. The Sun was there to greet him, his greatest ally and friend, the source of all his gifts that he was born to share with the world. Its rays on his skin made him feel new again.

By the time he crossed the gulf of space and landed on the moon, the object had already crashed. It was a fair distance from Tranquility base, where he'd proposed to Asuka as they watched the Earthrise. He landed on the surface, kicking up a cloud of dust that hovered in its peculiar, airless way as it worked itself back down. He was careful to step lightly, not kicking up too much dust. When Ritsuko's moon base project got underway, she'd want to study the Moon as it was, not as he left it for her. He tapped his ear.

"Ritsuko?"

"I hear you, Shinji. You're approaching the dark side. We're going to lose comms. Do you see anything yet?"

"No, not yet. Can you still…"

Earth passed out of view, and he heard only static. He tapped the bead to turn it off. He could see the bloom from the radio transmission now, rising over the distant rocks like an alien sunrise. He ascended the nearest boulders and looked out. The vessel that had crash landed on the surface was a much larger version of the same rocket that carried his genetic material and the archive to Earth. Could someone have defied the science council's ban and left Krypton?

He edged nearer, looking for a door. The side of the ship, where it wasn't damaged from the impact, was perfectly smooth. Remembering the rocket, he touched the side. An airlock door appeared and smoothly slid inwards, towards the nose. The ship was easily large enough to hold a crew, perhaps a whole family in some kind of stasis. He stepped inside.

The door hissed shut behind him. The inner door opened. He stepped inside. The ship had a name. Argo.

In Kryptonian.

Cautiously, he moved onto the main deck. Behind him were a number of pods, big enough to hold people. They were all cracked and broken. He rested his hand on the glass, wiping away the grime. Inside was nothing but a withered, mummified form. He didn't look any closer.

He sighed. There were no more survivors.

He needed to find some kind of ship's log. He turned around, opened the door, and stepped into what was most likely the cockpit. There was a pilot's seat, turned towards the control panel and main display. There was someone sitting in it.

Shinji's breath caught. He stepped forward, pausing when the door slammed shut behind him. The captain's seat slowly turned around.

The figure seated in it looked like Shinji. They could have been twins, except that his skin was as white as chalk and his pupils were red, like Rei's once were, his hair a brushed metallic silver, like stainless steel. He was dressed in a simple white garment, draped over his shoulder. He stood up.

"Who are you?" said Shinji.

"Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste."

* * *

Kaji stepped into his office, and the bookcase slid closed behind him. He'd been interviewing their guest for hours, with no luck. He was a puzzle, like the intricately linked bands of steel parents give their children to test their problem solving ability, with no clear solution. One moment he was raving, the next he seemed lucid, but nothing he said made any sense. He babbled about the death of universes and the Absolute Enemy and Yellow Aliens. Kaji knew only one thing about him- either he was a clone of Gendo Ikari, or he came from somewhere else, as he claimed.

When he stepped into Ritsuko's office, she didn't notice him. He cleared his throat.

She yelped and jumped out of her seat, almost falling. "Stop. Doing. That."

"Force of habit," said Kaji. "What's so important I had to leave our guest?"

"Six hours ago, I asked Shinji to investigate an anomaly in orbit. I haven't heard from him since he passed around the dark side of the moon."

Kaji felt a cold ball forming in his stomach. "What kind of anomaly?"

"It appeared to be a spacecraft of some kind, signaling for help in Krypton Ian."

Kaji touched his chin. "Have you told Asuka about this?"

"No, not yet. I'm afraid if I do, she'll-"

The door banged open. Asuka stormed inside, in pink pajamas and bare feet.

"Afraid I'll _what?" _

"Super hearing," said Kaji.

"Afraid you'll go looking for him."

"You're damn right I am," said Asuka. "Get me some clothes that fit."

"You can't do that," said Kaji, seizing her arm.

Her muscles were like coiled steel under his grasp. She could have knocked him through the wall, but she relaxed. "I have to, if-"

"If something happened to him, it can happen to you."

"You can't go into space without some kind of shielding," said Ritsuko. "This is important, Asuka. The baby has never been exposed to yellow sunlight. It may be able to absorb it through you, it may not. We don't want your child being bombarded by cosmic rays."

"I can't just sit here and do nothing. He wouldn't just disappear like this."

"You're right," said Kaji, "but if someone set a trap up there for him, we have to approach it cautiously. I think something is going on."

"What?" said Ritsuko.

"I just got reports from my field agents, McGinnis and Drake. The trail has gone cold on this 'Demon's Head' group. It's like they've vanished from the face of the Earth."

"You think they're connected?"

"I don't know."

"I don't care about that," Asuka snapped. "My husband is missing."

Ritsuko sighed. "We'll take the shuttle. I have a space suit for you, Asuka. Give me a minute to make some calls. I want Hikari with us."

"I'll see you at the launch pad. There's something I need to check on first."

Kaji turned without waiting for an answer. When he was out of sight he jogged down the hall to his office and ducked inside. One wall was lined with bookshelves, books like _Strategy and Tactics in the Crimean War_, _Forensic Analysis: A Scientific Method_ and _Improvised Explosive Devices: A Primer_. On one row of books was a rather innocuous looking desk calendar. He flipped the pages over until it read September 13, and the next shelf over hissed backwards, opening onto a narrow staircase that led down into a dark void. He jogged down the steps to a narrow elevator and rode it down.

He and Shinji had been working on this space, that Ritsuko had dubbed the Batcave, for almost a year. He had most of his gear down here, and handcuffed to a simple chair, a man who was all but indistinguishable from the late Gendo Ikari. Gendo, or whoever he was, looked up as Kaji approached. He wore no glasses, and his eyes were wild beneath unkempt hair. It was odd seeing him with a moustache along with his scraggly, untrimmed beard.

Kaji stopped in front of him. "Something happened."

"Of course it did," said Gendo, staring through him the way only a madman can.

"Shinji is missing. Do you know what might have happened to him?"

"My son got him," said Gendo. "Forget him and hope he doesn't come here. He brings only death with him. He is the death that is life. Do you know what it is?"

"What?" said Kaji.

"The riddle," said Gendo, giggling. "What is the Riddle of Steel?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Neither do I. I've seen things you wouldn't believe. He lets me see. I always see."

"Why? Why would someone do that to you?"

"For my sin," said Gendo, his voice becoming more even, until he burst out in a mad cackle. "The sin of having him. It's my fault. I loved a woman who was too good for me and I made a monster in her belly and then I put her in a monster's belly and now they're monsters together."

Kaji sighed. This was going nowhere. "Shinji is missing. You said someone was coming here. Who?"

"Shinji is coming," said Gendo.

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Of course it doesn't. Do you see it? He sees it."

"Sees what?"

"He can see the prose," said Gendo. "My sin will undo creation. I am cursed before all men."

Kaji sighed, and turned around.

"Wait," said Gendo.

He froze. "What is it?"

"I… I'm not making any sense. Listen to me, it's important. Your… your Shinji is the only one he's afraid of. He hates good things, he hates love and hope. He'll take what you have and twist it against you because he wants all of you to be monsters along with him. He's done it before. He'll do it again."

Gendo's brows furrowed. "There was something. Something important. A story. A pirate queen. I don't remember. The last world, there was so much screaming. He made me watch. There is something I'm supposed to say. It was important. It was very important."

Kaji left him in the dark, weeping gibberish into his knees. He'd solve that problem later. Now, he had work to do. He headed across the cave, which was really the floor of the cavern once called Terminal Dogma, where LCL bled out of Lilith, the giant on the cross that birthed mankind. He put a special code into a heavy vault door and peeled it back and stared into the face of the monster he became to terrify the guilty.

Whatever was on the Moon, he had to be ready for it.

* * *

"You know, when I was a kid," said Hikari, "I never thought anyone would fly me to the moon."

Ritsuko smirked at her. "I don't think any of us could have predicted how our lives would turn out."

She admired the kid. Hikari wasn't just dedicated, she wasn't just mentally strong enough to have half her body crushed and bounce back, she was intelligent and thoughtful. Sometimes, she wondered what she saw in the Suzahara boy, who couldn't decide if he wanted to imitate Shinji or Kaji. She corrected herself. Suzahara wasn't a boy anymore, and technically Hikari was a Suzahara, too. She'd taken his name when they married, only a month and a half before. Once Shinji and Asuka tied the knot, it seemed everyone was doing it. She was tempted to start nagging Rei about Kensuke. She felt like a mother hen.

She looked over her shoulder at Asuka, brooding at the back of the shuttle, her hands held over her belly. She had a habit of that when she was upset, holding her hands over the baby, trying to protect it. Ritsuko was more than a little worried what Asuka might do if they discovered the worst. For whatever reason, whether it was because she wasn't born with her abilities or because she hadn't had as much time to absorb sunlight or exert herself the way Shinji had, she was weaker than he was, but clumsier and more prone to break things and do damage. He had to teach her how to open doors without crushing the doorknobs and ripping them off their hinges.

Ritsuko turned to Maya. "Status?"

"We're coming into his last point of transmission now."

Maya grew up. She filled out. She wore her hair long now, and she'd gained a little weight, but that made her more comfortable than anything. Ritsuko was in love with her, and she was happy to let anyone know it. She was tempted to hold hands during the descent, but they had to be all business. Misato would want to hear from them as soon as they found something, and Asuka wouldn't take kindly to a makeout session while Shinji was missing. Ritsuko really just needed someone to comfort her. Shinji was important to her too, more important than anyone knew. He saved her life, and not with the strength of his arm or his superhuman powers. He told her that she was more than she believed herself to be, and she set herself to the task of using the rest of her life to prove him right.

Kaji looked away from the window. He was wearing the mask, and his suit was black. Ritsuko had designed all of his gear, but seeing him actually wear it unnerved her. He silently put on his helmet and strapped into his seat. Asuka put hers on but didn't bother with the seat belt. Maya strapped in, and Ritsuko put on her helmet.

She nosed the shuttle closer to the lunar surface, giving the Sea of Tranquility a wide berth. She didn't want to knock down the flag with the engines. Hikari was looking around with her enhanced senses, scanning for clues.

"He proposed to me over there," Asuka said, absently. This far away, none of them could actually see tranquility base but her.

The shuttle slid over the mountains, and Ritsuko gasped.

"That crater isn't on the map," said Hikari.

There was a great gouge in the surface of the moon. Half of a mountainside had been blown away, and there was no sign of any wreckage. The surface had been flash melted and refrozen smooth. Ritsuko brought the shuttle in for a landing. Kaji grabbed Asuka's arm to stop her from tearing through the damned wall. He got up and started opening the hatch even as the shuttle settled on its landing gear, and lead the way outside, bounding across the lunar landscape. Hikari followed him.

"Doctor Akagi," said Hikari, "I'm picking up some very odd radiation."

Ritsuko shouldered her sensor package and strapped it to her space suit, and followed Maya and Hikari down the ramp. She made some internal note of the banality of flying to the moon and walked across the surface. It crunched under her feet, a thin layer of smooth, rapidly melted and cooled stone over the dust. The shape of the crater was irregular, ovoid, implying a directed blast.

"This isn't an impact crater," said Kaji, pointing. "Something pumped out a hell of a lot of heat, aimed in this direction."

"Heat vision?" said Asuka.

"No," said Hikari. "There's secondary trails all along the surface."

She bounded forward and pointed, turning around to face them. "Something was over there, and it must have hit Shinji. It hit him and melted everything else. He shot back with his heat vision, sweeping it around, trying to hit something." She traced her arm in a spiral. "It was getting closer and closer."

"That doesn't make any sense," said Asuka. "If he was in a fight up here, there'd be more damage."

"No," said Kaji, "she's right. Something got closer and closer to him and they must have taken off into space. Impressive, Miss Suzahara."

Hikari blushed a little. "If they took off, where did they go?"

"They didn't take off," said Ritsuko.

Everyone turned around to face her. She was watching the panel on her instrument package. There was a frog in her throat, and it was hard to speak. The energy signature she was reading was impossible. She adjusted the equipment, but the signature refused to go away.

"There was a multiversal incursion event here," said Ritsuko.

"What the hell is that?" said Asuka.

"It's a theory Rei has been working on. She's been developing a set of equations related to the infinite worlds hypothesis."

"What about it?"

"Her work suggests that with a sufficient amount of energy, it may be possible to create an inverted AT-Field that would allow an object to bounce through the multiversal brane and emerge in another universe."

"How much energy?" said Kaji.

"More than humanity could ever generate. More than the largest stars can generate. Rei's equations suggest a black hole, or…" she trailed off.

"Or _what?"_ Asuka snapped, tears edging into her voice.

"An S2 engine," said Ritsuko.

"We need to go," said Kaji. "Now."

Hikari whirled. "Wait," she said. "Something's coming."

Asuka peered in the same direction. "It's a ship."

"Everybody back to the shuttle," Kaji barked, "Now! Asuka, go! Get out of here! Fly!"

She blinked, then turned and took off, bounding up into the airless, black sky.

* * *

Shinji opened his eyes. It had been a long time since he'd felt anything like that. It actually _hurt. _He stood up, saw bars, and did the natural thing, and grabbed them. He tugged, and his jaw dropped. They didn't budge. He pulled harder, and the bars squealed, but held fast. He looked up, and saw that he was bathed in red light from harsh lamps over his head. He looked across the floor in front of him. In another cell was Asuka.

He shook his head. It wasn't Asuka. The girl in the cell looked like Asuka's younger sister, in a bad cosplay outfit that looked like some kind of fascist military uniform. She had a heavy collar around her neck, that looked loose enough to just pick up and slide over her head. He leaned on the bars.

"Hey?"

The girl looked up. She blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"Who are you?"

"Asuka von Doom. You, I presume, are Shinji." She had a thicker accent than Asuka had, and it didn't sound German.

He blinked. Von Doom?

"I don't understand."

"I don't either. Why are you wearing a halloween costume?"

He was beginning to get annoyed. He leaned on the bars and turned. He recoiled. The girl wasn't alone. There was a throng of girls here, some as young as thirteen or fourteen, some as old as his wife, some older. They had one thing in common. Every one of them was Asuka. Some were shorter or taller or thinner or heavier or more muscled, their hair was slightly different or their eyes not quite the right shade of blue, but they were all the same _person._

"What the _hell?" _

"Something like that."

He whirled. Somehow, the creature from the Kryptonian ship had appeared behind him. He rubbed his temples. He remembered something. There was a fight. The silver-haired being attacked him, hurled an energy blast at him and then… and then he was here. He rushed into the cell and grabbed the creature by the neck.

"Who are you? Why did you-"

It backhanded him into the bars. Pain lanced up his back from the impact, and he slid down onto the floor, wide-eyed.

"You have _no idea_ how I've been looking forward to this."

The creature seized the collar of his uniform and dragged him, pinning him against the bars. "I'll be blunt. Normally, I'd allow you the chance to join me."

"Why don't we step outside?" said Shinji.

"I had a feeling you'd say that. Your bravado aside, it would take hours for your powers to return to peak strength, even in direct yellow sunlight. It will take far longer in the artificial light of this craft. No, there will be no fighting, Shinji. It would be pointless. You see, I've already won."

"I don't know who you are-"

"Oh please. I'm you. I am what you refuse to be because you indulge your childish fantasies. You think you can be _happy_. You think that bitch can actually love anyone but herself. You think that drunken slag actually cares about anything but getting Kaji in her-"

Shinji punched him. Hard. It hurt, and he grabbed his hand, afraid he'd broken his knuckles, but it was worth it. The silver-haired creature stumbled backwards, and rubbed at his jaw.

"Impressive. I'm surprised you didn't blather about cardboard first. Maybe the other one will do that."

His eyes narrowed. "Who are you?"

"I am the devil, and I come to do the devil's work. I am _you,_ you dolt. I am what Shinji Ikari could be, born in a world where I was free to complete myself. To find an answer to the Riddle of Steel."

"This must be what he was warning me about," Shinji breathed.

The godling spun him around and threw him into the wall. The impact pushed the air out of his lungs, but he didn't fall this time. He wouldn't give his captor the satisfaction. He seized Shinji by the throat, pinned him to the wall, and grabbed a fistful of his cape. He tore yanked it free, tearing it away from the back of Shinji's costume, and threw it behind him. It skimmed through the bars and slid across the floor.

"I can't stand that symbol," it snapped, "I'd take the one on your chest as well, but I want them to understand when you come back."

Still holding Shinji by the neck, it dragged him towards the door. With a wave of his hand, the creature opened the bars and pulled him out. As soon as the red light faded from his skin, he felt a tiny prickle of strength. Anticipating it, his captor pulled him around and shoved him face first into the wall. His foot slipped on his cape and it went out from under him. He fell down onto the floor, and the other Shinji kicked him in the ribs, hard enough to make his bones creak, then grabbed him by the ankle and dragged him away. As he slid along the floor, he watched the Asuka in the iron collar seize his cape and gather it up, pulling it to her chest.

He met the eyes of the other Asukas as he was dragged past.

"I'll come back for you," he shouted. "I'll figure something out."

"You're amusing," said the other Shinji. "Do you have some sort of disorder, or do you really believe your nonsense?"

"It doesn't matter what you do to me," said Shinji. "Someone will stop you."

"Your faith in your friends is endearing, but misplaced. I'm smarter than that."

Outside the door were two giants in heavy armor. Shinji tried to peer through it, but only managed to strain his eyes. Pain lanced in his temples. They grabbed him under the arms and dragged him to his feet, carrying him behind the pale copy of himself. His feet barely touched the ground. They carried him through a long series of corridors that grew darker the further they took him from the prison. The shadows caught his eye, as if something lurked in them, waiting to spring out at him. The doppleganger didn't seem to notice or care.

He was carried into a large space, which looked like a hangar re-purposed into some sort of temple. It was full of monsters. There was another one who bore his face, a wheezing giant with a gaunt, pale face and long, stringy hair that hung down over his cracked armor. He flexed and unflexed his right hand as Shinji was drawn closer. Inscribed on the floor in a circle of rust was a symbol of some kind, occult-looking and strange. The angles didn't seem to match, and his head hurt when he looked at it. He was carried into the middle of it, where an iron cross was embedded in the floor.

The held him over it. The strange imitations of him stared at him. Another joined him, wearing a white suit. Asuka -an Asuka- was clinging to him. Her shoulder was bandaged and there was a light scar over her chin, as if a sliver of her skin had been peeled away and then grew back, smooth and clean. The Shinji in the white suit picked his teeth with a long knife and grinned at him.

"I'll figure out some way to stop you," said Shinji.

"That's the spirit," said the silver-haired Shinji, resting his hand on Shinji's chest, spreading his fingers over the S-emblem. "Feel the _hate. _Feel the desire in your heart. I gave you this. Crucify him."

He stepped out of the circle. The giants dragged Shinji around and forced him to the floor. One of them rested his boot on Shinji's chest, pinning him to the iron cross. Hunched men in purple robes surrounded him, held out his arms, and lashed him to the iron cross beam with coiled barbed wire that split tiny holes in his costume and dug into his flesh. One of them leaned very close to him, and whispered in his ear.

"There is a weakness in this working. Do not lose hope."

"Who are you," Shinji whispered.

"I am Alpharius."

When his legs were bound to the beam of the cross, the giant lifted up his foot and stepped out of the circle. A pair of the hunched men in the purple robes turned a crank, and chains dragged the cross from the floor. It spun, shifting Shinji's weight onto the barbed wire, and he bit back a grunt of pain as the cross lifted from the floor and hung over the circle.

The giant that bore his face, tallest of them all, bellowed. "Begin."

Kensuke, or a monster who looked like Kensuke with his glasses sutured directly to his face, stepped up. The purple-hooded thralls surrounded him, nine in all. Nine more stood behind them. Kensuke raised his arms and chanted.

"Oh Changer of Ways, oh Master of Fortune, oh Great Conspirator, heed our prayers. We bring you this icon of hope that you may be the architect of his fate."

His voice rose higher, turning into a sibilant, wordless chant. The nine that surrounded him lit candles in their palms and held them up, joining in the chanting. A wind rose from nowhere and swept across the hangar, flickering the flames. An unnatural dark drew in, until the lights on the thrall's hands were the only points in the darkness. Kensuke's chanting twisted, faded, grew again, and then was no more.

"A ninefold betrayal, for the Great Conspirator."

The thralls standing behind the thralls raised daggers. Shinji closed his eyes and turned away.

His eyes became lidded, and he relaxed, leaning into the barbed wire.

"Cut him down," said the silver-haired Shinji.

The thralls cut the wire away, and he fell onto the floor. He tried to jump to his feet, but he didn't move. He felt something slithering over his skin, like a snake made out of needles, crawling up his spine and tightening around his throat. The silver-haired Shinji walked up to him.

"Stand up."

Shinji rose to his feet. Or rather, his body rose to his feet. He stared out through his eyes, but he controlled nothing, not even his breathing. He stared straight ahead, willing his head to turn, but nothing happened. When he tried to speak, he screamed in his head but no words escaped his lips.

"Kneel."

His body knelt.

The silver-haired Shinji knelt before him, and rested his hands on Shinji's cheeks.

"I have a task for you, brother. There is another one like you. You're going to kill him for me."

* * *

Rei looked up from her work. She was going over the equations for the partially organic quantum computer she was going to build with Ritsuko, their first fumbling attempt to replicate the astonishing computer in the rocket that carried Shinji's genetic material to Earth. Kensuke, Toji, and Misato were crowding the door of her office, and they all spoke at once. She raised her hand to cut through the silence.

"We're in trouble," said Misato.

"What is it?"

"Shinji's disappeared. He was investigating some kind of signal on the Moon. Ritsuko's blathering something about multiversal yadda yadda and there's an alien spacecraft going to hit the upper atmosphere in about ten minutes. They're on their way back in the shuttle now and Asuka is flying in on her own-"

"I must speak with her," said Rei, standing. She rushed them out of her office and rushed ahead of the others.

Kensuke fell in behind her. "What's happening?"

"If Ritsuko suspects a multiversal incursion event, I believe her."

"What is that?" said Misato.

"Something came here from another universe. It opened a door. We had been going over some equations for some time, but the energy requirements for such a device would be beyond anything we could produce without a super solenoid."

"You mean an angel could do it," Misato said, stumbling.

"Possibly," said Rei. "If an AT-Field were inverted, it would create a theoretical space, as we saw when Kaworu abducted Shinji and Asuka, but more power would be needed to connect to another universe."

"So they could be back," said Misato. "The angels could be back."

"No. They are all dead."

Misato stopped. "What if they came from another planet? Another one of those seed things, and now they're going to invade us."

"It is possible," said Rei. "We do not have enough data to draw a conclusion. Quickly, we must get to the command center."

Rei lead the way. The rebuilt command center hadn't actually been used since the war. Everything was covered in tarps or clear plastic, except the MAGI nodes, where she did most of her work. She peeled the plastic back from the old comms panel, where Hyuga used to sit, and put on a headset. Static crackled in her ear.

"Rei?" said Ritsuko.

"I am here," said Rei.

"Tell Misato to start pulling everything out of mothballs. Get ready to sound the evacuation alarm, and bring the defense systems online. We have an inbound alien spacecraft, possibly hostile. My radar is showing it heading into the Sea of Japan right now. Can you track Asuka on her grid? Kaji told her to run and we haven't seen her since."

Rei began typing. "I have her. She is not far from your position."

"The radio in her suit isn't powerful enough to call back to base, but she might pick you up. Tell her to get her scrawny ass back there now. Use those exact words."

"Affirmative," said Rei.

She turned and relayed the orders to Misato. Suddenly given a purpose, she turned and pulled out her phone. Toji and Kensuke began peeling back the plastic, rolling it up, and started firing up the computers. Rei got up and took Maya's old seat, while Kensuke filled hers. Toji ran around the room, lifting up the plastic and closing the circuits to power up the mainframes.

"Asuka," said Rei, "If you are reading me, bring your 'scrawny ass' back to base at once. That is an order."

"I have the shuttle," said Kensuke. "It's coming in to the launch pad now."

Misato turned around. "I have the old crew coming in. We should be up and running within an hour."

Her phone beeped. She looked at it, and Kaji's voice burst out of it.

"I'm calling in the Batmen."

"Damn it," said Misato, "I told you to stop hacking my phone. You could just call me once in a while."

"Don't worry, nothing I haven't seen before. Kaji out."

Rei pulled up the MAGI command line and began typing. Misato stood behind her, peering at the screen.

"I have no idea what you're doing."

Rei's fingers flew over the keys. "I'm inputting the multiversal translation equations we devised. I will not be able to build the device without the MAGI's help."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Misato. "What device? You said the power-"

"To travel, yes. We may be able to communicate, however, by sending an electromagnetic signal that has no mass."

"Uh, okay," said Misato.

Kensuke sat up. "The bogey will hit the ocean in less than a minute."

"Bogey?" said Toji.

"What?" said Kensuke. "Whatever. It'll hit in thirty seconds, now. I'm picking up some really weird energy readings here. MAGI don't have an identifier for me."

"Let me see it," Rei said absently, pulling up another command line on her screen. "Fascinating. The pattern is _green._"

"What's that mean?" said Misato.

"Unknown," said Rei.

"It's going in now," said Kensuke. "The shuttle will make reentry in less than a minute."

"Hold on to your butts," said Toji.

Rei looked at Kensuke. "Do not touch my butt in public."

"It was a figure of speech," said Toji. "Wait, you-"

"_Enough,"_ said Misato. "God, it's like you're all still sixteen."

Toji walked up to her. "He's coming back. He'll be okay."

She nodded, biting her lip.

"Of course he will," said Rei. "He's Superman. He can do anything."

* * *

There was a time in Hikari's life when reentering the Earth's atmosphere in a shuttle built with alien technology would have been the most interesting part of her day. As it was, there was little for her to actually do. The ship's computers did virtually all the work, adjusting the ship's attitude as it hit the atmosphere. The plasma welling up around the windows from the heat of reentry wasn't even that frightening. She closed her organic eye and watched the show through her cybernetic one, watching the light in a broad spectrum. She flexed her mechanical fingers and waited.

"Attitude is good," said Ritsuko. "We're coming out of radio blackout now. Rei," she said into the mike, "Do you have Asuka?"

Rei's quiet voice filled the cabin. "She is on her way here. The object has crashed into the ocean."

"I want her back, then get every satellite and resource you can looking into that thing. I want to know what it is and where it came from as soon as possible. Assume it's hostile."

"Affirmative," said Rei.

Once the ship slowed enough, Ritsuko took the controls, although the auto pilot was doing most of the work. The shuttle rolled and Hikari looked down over the stubby wing to see the Japanese countryside rolling under them. It corrected again and the floor pitched back as they leveled out, the nose rising for the landing. Ritsuko threw a switch and the VTOL engines kicked in, blasting hot jets from the underbelly of the ship to slow her descent and bring her around to the pad. The yawning mouth of the Geofront rose up around them, and the shuttle came to a gentle halt about a kilometer away from the main complex.

Hikari was already on her feet as the ramp lowered. Misato was rolling up in an electric tram. When Kaji lifted his helmet and she saw his mask, she tensed visibly.

"You said you'd never wear that thing around me."

"Extreme circumstances," said Kaji, hopping into the tram. The others followed him.

Asuka lighted on the pad, tore off her helmet -literally- and ran over to them. As Misato turned and hit the accelerator, Asuka lifted off her feet, rolled over on her back, and kept pace with them, sliding through the air.

"What the hell is going on?"

"I don't know," said Ritsuko. "We need to figure out what the thing that crashed in the ocean is."

"We need to _find Shinji."_

"We're going to. As soon as I talk to Rei, we're going to start working on getting her equations to work with some kind of machine. We may not be able to bring him back with it, but I'll find out where he went."

Asuka ground her teeth.

Ritsuko looked at her. "He means a lot to me, too."

Asuka softened. She sat down on the fender of the tram. Hikari met her gaze and smiled weakly. Asuka sat up and her neck snapped around. She traced something with her eyes. It took Hikari a second to pick it up, closing her good eye and zooming in with her artificial one. Something small was heading through the open roof of the Geofront at incredible speed. It was glowing, and it was green.

"Asuka," said Hikari, "Get out of here. Now."

Asuka swallowed. "I can't just-"

"What?" said Ritsuko. "What is it-"

"It might be Kryptonite," said Hikari. "The baby. _Go."_

Asuka nodded and took off, heading in the opposite direction. She moved so fast she was just a blur and wash of warm summer air over Hikari's face. The object continued on its course, ignoring her. It headed straight for the pyramid

"Misato, punch it," said Hikari.

Misato floored it, and the tram picked up speed. The object was within visual range now- she didn't need to cheat to see it. It hit the glass wall of the pyramid, and Hikari expected it to shatter, but it just passed through, instead. Hikari sat up, spun her mechanical arm around her back, bending the joints at odd angles, and pulled her space suit open. She shrugged out of it, revealing the black undersuit she wore over her cybernetic arm and leg. She didn't have her full combat suit on, so she'd have to be careful.

"What are you-" Misato started.

Hikari got up on the back of the tram, shifted her weight onto her false leg, and sprang. She had to nail the landing just right, or she'd break her real one when she came down. She landed on her false leg, turned, put her weight on her cyber-arm, pivoted on the joint, and jumped again. She came down on her false leg, rolled into a crouch, and charged into the pyramid, opening the doors with her onboard computer. The others ran after her, but skipping on her cybernetic leg, she outpaced them easily.

The elevator opened, and Rei came out, followed by the boys. The green object raced down through the pyramid, passing through glass and silvery metal beams, all without harming them. Hikari brought her arm around and unfolded it into combat mode, her hand retracting into a laser cannon. She aimed at the object, but it was already too close.

It came at her first, and she swiped at it with her arm, but missed. It lit the entire lobby up green, leaving an emerald trail behind it as it spun around her. It blasted her with some kind of a beam and she shielded her face, but all she felt was a faint warmth on her skin. Kaji held Maya, Ritsuko and Misato back with his outstretched arms. The beam passed over them as the object circled around them. It crossed back in front of Hikari and she shot her hand out at it, but it passed through her palm.

It scanned Toji with its beam, blinked, and then scanned Kensuke. They froze. Rei took a step towards it, cocking her head. It hovered in front of her, slowly tracing her with its beam from head to toe. It raced down to her hand and she yelped, grabbing at it as it slid down her middle finger on her right hand and refused to budge.

She stumbled, and then stopped. Her eyes unfocused, and her green irises took on a soft glow. She held up the ring and looked at it, and a tiny voice spoke from everywhere at once.

_Rei Ayanami of Earth. You have the ability to overcome great fear._

Rei turned her hand, staring at the ring.

_Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps. _

* * *

The only way Mari could keep her head was to focus. She could let Jarvis do this, but she preferred to solder these connections herself, even if the computer would end up going over them anyway. She had the Mark X helmet on a work bench in front of her. The outer layer of armor was removed and she was working on the optics, trying to restore her HUD. She was just about to make a delicate connection when she froze. Something enormous was stomping up behind her. She sighed. Sharing the hangar space she'd been granted with giant robots could be a pain sometimes.

Rhinox was weird. He looked scarier than he was. Ten feet tall, his chest was the bottom jaw of a rhinocerous, complete with sharp jutting teeth like some kind of tribal idol. It creeped her out a little, to be honest, how these Maximals were machines with animal bits glued onto them. It was even weirder when they did their thing and just turned into a gorilla or a rhino or a rat. Or a velociraptor. The aptly named Dinobot kept to his "Beast Mode" most of the time and was wandering around the ship scaring the hell out of people.

"Mind if I take a look?"

Mari shrugged. Rhinox's hands were huge but his touch was delicate. He turned the helmet in his hands.

"Very fine work. I was hoping… I could see it. The arc reactor."

Mari opened the padded box where she kept the power supply for her suit and handed it to him. He turned it in his fingers, staring at it reverently, like a mix of the holy grail and the ark of the covenant. She supposed it was. Imagine swallowing a pill that would render you free from hunger forever. To these sentient machines, that's what her tech was.

"Amazing," he said, and handed it back.

"You want to take a closer look?"

He shook his head. "My people couldn't be trusted with this. All we'd do is use it to fight our wars longer, and drag everyone else into them."

Mari looked over his shoulder. The other Maximals were mingled with the Autobots. She thought they were going to bow down and start worshiping Optimus Prime any minute. Mari watched them for a moment.

"He's the greatest hero of our society," said Rhinox. "Imagine all your great historical figures rolled up into one, and a few spiritual ones, too. That is Optimus Prime."

"Sometimes I wonder," said Mari, "why we're here. I mean why these aliens chose us for this fight."

"I'm sure we all have a purpose. We just have to find out what it is."

"Would you excuse us, Rhinox?"

Mari turned around. It was Shinji, but not _her_ Shinji. It was the one that wore a weird Eva-Iron Man hybrid. He scratched the back of his head. With a little bit of stubble, he looked a little like a more cleaned up Kaji. Mari felt a pang of regret. Kaji had survived, but stayed behind on their world, nursing a broken leg. There were a lot of injuries, a lot of losses. The world was in shambles, and the Avengers couldn't just charge off and leave it to the wolves. There were even rumors that the Red Skull had made it out, somehow, and Doctor Doom had a habit of showing up again, especially with no body. In the end, only she and some of the kids had ended up leaving.

The kids and Katsuragi. She watched Shinji from a distance, crouched on top of a crate. That weird suit of hers was flexing and flowing. Shinji stared at her, shaking his head to focus on Mari instead.

"What is it?" said Mari.

"I wanted to see if I could help with your gear. I didn't really design my own suit and all, but maybe I could help."

"Ah," said Mari. "Look, it's all pretty complicated. A test pilot doesn't help repair his jet, now does he?"

He sighed. "I guess. I just need to get away from all the arguing for a while."

"Arguing?"

He shrugged. "Hikari, I mean your Hikari, wants to go charging in right now and take the fight to the enemy. I've got a whole crew of scientists working on some kind of a theory that I don't even understand, trying to figure out some kind of weapon we can use against… well against me. Against that monster that leads them."

"The hammer worked well enough."

"He stopped it," said Shinji. "I think he has those others with him only because he can't take all of us on at once."

"I could use another pair of hands here," said Mari, returning to the bench. "Maybe you can help me after all."

He stood beside her.

"Hand me that soldering iron, there."

He handed it to her. His hand brushed hers as she took it. "So, you have a thing for our Misato, huh?"

"What? No, I- It's complicated. I just…"

"Go ahead," said Mari. "I can tell you're dying to tell someone."

He shrugged, turning part of her shoulder armor in his hands. "It's weird seeing her, that's all. I know she's not the woman I knew, but Misato was important to me."

"Important, huh," said Mari. "What do you mean _was?"_

He sighed. "She died."

"You mean, when your world-"

"No, it was a long time ago. She took a bullet for me. I guess I'm lucky. I was with her when she passed. That meant a lot to her, I could tell."

"She meant a lot to you. Were you…?"

He blushed furiously. "Yeah. I mean, I was sixteen when I met her and I guess time works differently. In my world, she was only twenty-four then. It wasn't that big of a difference. I ended up living with her for a while and it was a little apartment and there was a lot of stress. I was, well, I mean I got a crush on her pretty quick, and… and it was when Hikari, my Hikari, got hurt. Badly hurt. Her armor was taken over by this thing, an angel, and we had to… I had to hurt her. It was the only way to stop it."

"So what happened?"

"Luck, I guess. I walked in on her in the bathroom. It was an accident, really. She was just getting out of the shower. I was in a really bad place then, and so was she. She was really close to all of us."

"I bet that made for an awkward few days. So did she start putting the moves on you after that, or what?"

"We did it on the bathroom floor," said Shinji.

Mari burst out laughing and nearly dropped the helmet. "Oh my God. I am so sorry."

"No, it's okay. Toji about shit himself when I told him. Our relationship, if you can call it that, lasted about a month and a half. We packed a lifetime's worth of… you know, anyway we spent a lot of time together, got really close… and she died to protect me. The one time I really wanted my armor it wasn't there."

He brushed at his eyes. "It's funny. She said something to me at the end. She said 'they're waiting for me'. I never knew what that meant."

"Waiting for her? Who, her family? Maybe we go somewhere when we check out after all."

"I don't know," said Shinji. "After that, it all went to hell. We won the war but I lost my life. Asuka had a thing for me. We tried it, but it didn't work. You can't imagine waking up to Asuka clawing at your face because you said another woman's name in your sleep."

"My Asuka can set things on fire with her mind," said Mari.

"Oh," said Shinji. "I got a glimpse of her and your Shinji. Were they…?"

"I don't know," Mari shrugged. "We weren't really that close. I only knew the kids by reputation. I guess I should join the Misato club. I'm nineteen, and my first thought when I saw his picture… I guess _your_ picture was 'wow, he's kind of cute'."

Mari realized what she said and she blushed furiously. Shinji blinked.

"Oh," he said, "uh, thanks, I guess. You're not too bad yourself. I-"

"Mon Capitan!"

Mari looked over her shoulder. Then she looked down a bit.

Rattrap.

"Oh Captain my Captain," said Rattrap. "A Doc Brown and Creepy Albino Girl want a word about some flux doodad."

Shinji sighed. "Right. I'm on my way."

He turned to Mari. "Why don't you come along?"

"I could," said Mari. "I can let Jarvis handle the repairs. I moved everything I needed onto the ship already."

She put the helmet down and waved one of Jarvis' pods over. It hovered up to her and waited for her direction.

"You can take over now."

"Oh joy," said Jarvis, the pods clustering around her work bench.

She followed Shinji through the hangar, stopping to let passing Autobots stomp past them. The hangar and some of the cargo bays were the only places they could actually fit. An impromptu lab had been set up down in one of the medical bays, where Doc Brown and Rei, the one who was apparently some kind of professional ghost catcher, were working on something, conferring with Rhinox and the Autobot named Perceptor. Who could fit in their lab if he transformed into a microscope. A twenty foot tall robot who turned into a microscope.

Mari's head hurt.

In the lab, they had spread out their theories on a chalk board. Mari tilted her head. She was more for engineering than the high concept stuff. There was a lot of math, a lot of equations, and very little English. Toji -_a _Toji, the one who was a package deal with Rei the Ghostbuster- was there, as well as the McFly kid. Mari felt weird thinking of him as a kid. She was only a year older. She felt like retiring already.

"What is it?" said Shinji.

"It's preposterous, is what it is," said Perceptor.

Mari jumped. The microscope was talking again. She sometimes had to pinch herself to make sure this wasn't all a bad trip.

"Hear me out," said Brown. He flipped the chalkboard around to a clear side. Mostly clear. It needed a wash. He drew some lines across it.

"These are timelines. They represent our universes."

"Go on," said Shinji.

"When you use your jump drive, it takes you from one universe," he poked a dot onto one of the lines, "to another, here. If we jump from universe to universe, we come out at specific points, no earlier and no later."

He drew a perpendicular line connecting all the points. "There's something to this."

"We believe there is an additional type of time," said Rei, "a meta-time that runs perpendicular, rather than parallel, to all universes, connecting a specific point on one timeline to a specific point on another."

"Okay," said Shinji.

"I believe I can modify the DeLoreans flux capacitor," said Brown, "into a type of _meta_flux capacitor."

"What would that do?" said Mari.

"We don't know," said Rei.

Shinji palmed his face. "Okay, good. Keep working on it."

Mari turned. "Come on," she said, "Let's get some air."

Getting some air amounted to walking through the corridors of the ship. Eventually, the came to one hallway in particular. One wall was lined with old, burned out candles, and thousands of photographs of all sizes, full of people. There was an old man standing in front of them, watching over them.

"Who are you?" said Mari.

"Doesn't matter," said the old man.

"He came with the ship," said Shinji. "That jump into the atmosphere thing was his idea."

"It worked before," said the old man. "Those yellow bastards said they needed to borrow me for a while. Said my timeline was complete or something. I only agreed to tag along because they were stealing my ship."

Mari blinked. "Okay."

"You need her more than I do, anyway."

Shinji looked at the pictures. "Did you know these people?"

"Some," said the old man. "Not most."

"We have to figure out a way to stop this," said Shinji. "There's a lot more people that could go up on this wall, and more of them every time those things destroy another planet. You have any ideas?"

The old man shrugged. "There's five nukes on this ship. I'd use 'em."

He turned, and walked off.

Shinji sighed, and looked at Mari. "You saw those things. I'm not sure a nuclear bomb would stop them."

He sagged against the wall. "I don't know what to do. Everyone keeps looking at me for answers, but I don't know more than anybody else. I woke up one night to everyone I care about being murdered and weird yellow aliens that speak in riddles told me I'm going to save the universe. I wish I'd gone to work instead."

Mary snorted.

Shinji's voice became very soft. "I left her."

"Who?"

"Asuka. They took me on their ship. They got her, too. The armor… my damned armor jumped me out without asking. I left her behind."

"You were on their ship?" said Mari. "What was on it?"

"Hell," said Shinji.

Mari jumped. The phone behind them was ringing.

Shinji picked it up. It had a cord. That was weird.

"Yeah, it's me. I- _what?" _

"What?" said Mari. "What is it?"

"We have a phone call."

* * *

The only space large enough to accommodate everyone, particularly because several of the gathered were twenty foot tall robots from another planet, was the repair bay and hangar. Shinji felt a lump in his throat as he walked out into the open space, the largest on the ship, with Mari in tow. He tried not to glance over his shoulder at her, but it was like someone twisted his head around, forcing him to look. Every time his eyes fell on her, she looked away, but with a curious, almost involuntary smile. He was beginning to feel angry that there was no Mari on his native world.

He remembered Asuka slumping in her broken armor, and felt a terrible pang of regret. He left her behind.

"You okay?" said Mari.

He nodded. He had to be strong. The yellow aliens were there, waiting for him. So was everyone else. It was difficult not to be overawed. The entire crew was gathered in a circle around the aliens. The Hunter gave Shinji a curt nod as he passed. Hikari was standing apart from the others. The light from the fluorescents overhead didn't touch her, like she wasn't real; she had a light of her own, the hammer hanging from her hip seeming to draw everything in around it, like it was pulling the world into its own orbit. The Toji from her world stood with their Rei. They were holding hands. Shinji blinked at that, but it made him feel oddly warm inside.

He missed Rei, too.

The Ghostbusters were talking quietly amongst themselves. They had their gear ready. Shinji still didn't know why they had been chosen by the aliens, although their Rei seemed to have some insight in the strange problem Doc Brown was going over. Hikari overhead something they said and perked up, edging towards them, but stopped when the Yellow Aliens fixed their gaze on Shinji.

"The hour grows dire," said the first alien.

"The Adversary moves once more. We have delivered the coordinates you will need for the next jump."

"The enemy grows bolder, yet more cautious," said the third alien. "He must not be allowed to triumph on these worlds. They grant him a path to power beyond your imagining."

The Hunter stepped forward. "Is this all we're going to do? Play defense?"

The aliens turned to him, but ignored him, turning back to Shinji.

"Steel yourselves," said the first alien.

"The Adversary has seized a weapon of unimaginable power," said the third alien.

"Hope itself will fall," said the third alien.

"I don't understand," said Shinji. "You're talking in riddles, what-"

All three of their heads whipped around at once. Their postures changed, almost like echoes of one another, and they stepped backwards.

"No!" the cried in unison, "he is _here! We must flee!"_

"Wait!" Shinji cried.

The aliens vanished. There was no flash, no crack of thunder, they simply ceased, falling out of the universe between ticks of the clock. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck lift up. The Ghostbusters shouldered into their proton packs, and Mari ran to her setup and stepped into the armor gantry. He ran over to his own suit, his stomach tightening into a cold ball. The aliens were beyond his comprehension. If they were afraid…

He shoved his arms into the suit and yanked them forward, closing it around him. The helmet slammed down just in time for his HUD to bombard him with warnings. There was a radiation spike, and a sphere of white light formed in the very spot where the aliens had stood. He closed his eyes until his eyepiece filters adjusted, darkening like the faceplate of a welder's mask. He saw his mirror image wreathed in light, his head thrown back in an ecstatic laugh, the red sphere of the core like a burning coal in his chest, lighting up his bones under his milk-pale skin. He wasn't alone.

He clamped his hands to the side of his head, his gauntlets scraping on his helmet. He heard a name being repeated over and over, a blasphemous, rolling fugue of syllables, harsh and alien, stumbling over each other. The Adversary's gate widened, and the whispers grew louder, ringing in his ears. He saw everyone else stumble away, covering their eyes or their ears. Something erupted from the opening gate, a livid streak of flame that circled around it, trailing harsh black smoke, and hit the deck, scorching it.

The flame stood up, shifted and took on a human shape, drawing out long limbs corded with muscle, a hollow chest and narrow body, eerily graceful. It looked around with a monstrous ape's face, wide jaws full of slavering teeth and a long, lolling tongue. In one hand, it hefted a sword of beaten iron, still hot from the forge, and from the sides of its head, brazen brass horns rose up on either side of its skull elongated in mockery of an ancient warrior's helmet. It skin was aglow with flaming runes, smoldering with sulfurous smoke. It surged forward, screeching, and more followed it, burning into being.

The flames spread, swirling into a greater shape, drawing air into themselves. The chanting in his ears grew louder, the ancient syllables rolling and mingling with one another, and only as it grew to an ear splitting roar did he hear the simple, repeating chant under it.

_Blood for the blood god blood for the blood god bloodforthebloodgodbloodfort he…_

A column of flames rose up in the center of the hangar, and from it emerged a pair of leathery wings, wreathed in flame. An immense bulk burst forth, hefting an axe of molten brass, its flowing, ever-changing blade covered in blasphemous runes and snarling, agonized face. It spun a whip of pure fire around its body and cracked it over its head, snarling through its ragged needle teeth in an ancient litany of raw hate.

The Adversary focused on Shinji, and a slow grin spread across his face as more of the beasts tumbled out of his portal, followed by raging Astartes.

The unholy chant ended in a thunderclap as Hikari raised Mjolnir over her head. Wreathed in light, she rose over the beasts, an angel over devils, and in her high sweet voice sang an ancient song of battle. Shinji felt it in his bones. He didn't realize he was charging into battle until he already felt the first monster's face connecting to his fist.

* * *

The recovered wreckage of the alien craft was spread out in Rei's lab, taking up most of the hastily cleared table. She and Asuka had recovered the most important part- the power battery that stood before them, resembling nothing so much as an old train lantern, complete with handle. The lens flickered with power. Rei moved towards it, until Ritsuko caught her hand.

"We don't know what this thing does," she said.

Rei held up the ring. "Explain the function of the power battery."

"The battery provides a connection to the central battery on Oa," said the ring, "it must be used to recharge your ring every twenty four hours. Current charge remaining: Sixty-two point eight percent."

Rei shrugged. "It would seem it charges the ring."

"It seems like a weird coincidence that this thing should show up now," said Hikari.

Rei glanced at her. She was nervous. She abandoned all pretense of being a normal human, exchanging her skintone cybernetics for the heavier combat versions, including the large protective lens over her eye, along with the armored suit she wore to protect the rest of her body. Ritsuko brought Streaky. The car curled up in her crooked arm, nuzzling her head into Ritsuko's chest.

"How do I charge the ring?" said Rei.

"Touch the ring to the main lens and recite the oath."

"Oath?" said Rei.

She blinked. Images flashed in her mind. She stepped forward, balled her hand into a fist, and touched the ring to the battery.

"In brightest day, in blackest night, no evil shall escape my sight."

"Rei…" said Hikari.

She could feel it, creeping up her arm. The batter glowed, even the dull metal of the body, bathing the room in green light. Asuka edged away, shielding her stomach, but Rei raised her hand dismissively. It did not have the calming effect she intended.

"Let all who worship evil's might, beware my power: Green Lantern's Light."

She snapped her eyes closed as the battery became too bright to look at. When she opened them again, she wore a white glove, and the sleeve of her labcoat was gone. She looked down. Her labcoat and coveralls had been replaced with a white and black body glove. On her chest was an emblem like the one on the ring itself, a circle with two bars in green on a circular white field.

"Sweet," said Kensuke.

She shot him a sharp look.

"Now what?"

Rei held up the ring. "Describe your capabilities."

"The Green Lantern Ring is a thought-based device capable of translating the user's mental input into physical constructs. Its efficacy depends on the individual user's willpower."

Everyone in the room looked at her nervously.

"I see," said Rei. "Whatever I imagine. I need more space."

"Rei, _wait," _Ritsuko shouted.

Rei ignored her, brushing out of the lab into the atrium. With the security lockdown, the great glass pyramid was empty. Ritsuko, Hikari, and Asuka rushed to follow her. Toji moved closer, until Hikari held up her hand.

"Sit this one out."

Toji looked at her darkly, but backed away. He grabbed Kensuke's arm as he tried to follow. Rei walked until she had adequate space, and then closed her eyes.

Then, she imagined.

Light snaked out from the ring and wreathed her and the expanded outwards. It formed a rounded metal floor of diamond plate in translucent green that slowly lifted her and the others a few inches from the floor. She opened her eyes and the energy fiend began to grow, mechanical parts snapping up and interlocking with each other as they expanded around her. A chair formed and she sat down in it. A series of interlocking arms lifted up behind her and touched soft pads to her head, where she once wore her nerve clips. A translucent dome formed around the space, sealing them off from the outside.

"Rei…" Ritsuko said nervously.

"Please wait. I must balance the equations."

Streaky woke up, yowling, and clung to Ritsuko's neck. Asuka edged closer to her, balling her hands into fists, and Hikari unfolded her arm into her laser cannon, bracing it with her off hand. Layers of green armor plating folded up over the canopy of the machine, blocking their view from the outside.

"Warning," the ring said in a soft monotone, "the current action will expend ten percent of the current charge."

"Override," said Rei.

The floor rumbled, rolling under her feet. Ritsuko stumbled until Asuka grabbed her. Rei took a deep breath, opened her eyes, and the machine vanished, the light sliding back into the ring.

There was a tree. It rose up into a vast _blankness_, neither darkness nor light but the utter absence of both. Her eyes became lost in its branches, trying to count the leaves. No matter how quickly she assessed their number, there were always more, gold veined with silver. The others were staring up at it. Except Asuka, whose gazed fixed on the three yellow aliens standing before it, ringing a miniature copy of the tree in a glass dome, which somehow _was_ the tree. She crossed the space between them in an instant, seized the middle alien by the throat, and hauled it up into the air.

"Who the _hell _are you and what did you do with my husband?"

The tree shook, and the other two aliens _flickered_, somehow changing places with their trapped counterpart, blinking from place to place, all of them clutching at their throats.

"Asuka," Rei said. "Let him go."

She looked over her shoulder, then reluctantly lowered the being to the ground. The three of them seemed none the worse for wear.

"That is why we do not usually deal directly with you," said the first alien.

Ritsuko stepped forward, gaping. "What is this place?"

"Everywhere," said the second alien.

"…and nowhere," said the third.

"I… I…" Ritsuko gasped, her voice thickening, "I need data on this, I have to-"

"**No." **The aliens sad in unison.

Ritsuko froze. "Nevermind."

"You are the ones who contacted me before," said Rei.

The aliens nodded.

"I am here. Where is Shinji?"

"Taken," said the first alien.

"Taken by the Adversary," said the second alien.

"Taken back to hell," said the third alien.

Asuka stormed forward, pushing her finger into the middle alien's face.

"_Tell me where."_

"Asuka," Ritsuko said, "Did you catch the _hell_ part?"

She spun on her heels. "Hell?" she clenched her hand into a fist. "_I'll show them hell."_

* * *

Always did the sun shine on Themyscira, where it fell across a gleaming city that blended ancient ways and distant futures in equal measure as it blended gleaming marble and brilliant foliage. Birds flitted in the trees, and fawns stalked through meadows without fear. One such fawn, still bearing her yearling spots, approached the three strangers that appeared on Themyiscira's shores.

Iqarius touched the fawn's throat with his ashen hand, and it coughed. She stumbled, nearly falling, and snorted. A thick stream of mucous bubbled out of its throat, and mange crawled through her fur, which fell away in tufts. A livid sore opened on her flank that ran with yellow puss, and she fell on her side, gasping for ragged, phlegmatic breaths. She sighed her last and her body exploded in a profusion of worms and grubs, slithering out across the white sand.

Iquarius looked on the carcass of the dear in grim mirth, his pale lips tightened into a mockery of a smile. Shambling across the sand, he was a mass of twisted limbs trapped within shattered armor, his pallid skin white as clay but for the dark circles around his eyes, swollen like bruises. He rumbled deep in his throat and spat a thick bulb of mucous on the sand.

"So beautiful," he rasped.

"For now," said the Adversary.

Shinji screamed inside his own mind. The _thing_ wore him like a costume. Its needly skin burned inside his own, and when he tried to fight it, the barbed wire around his arms and neck tightened, digging into his skin, sending white hot lances of pain through his flesh that made him shudder. The Adversary spied his struggles and snickered.

"Why are we here?" said Iquarius.

"You wanted the Amazon," said the Adversary, "we're going to take her."

"What of the others?"

The Adversary turned his face to the midday sun and smiled. "Immortal, inviolate, each of them is the soul of a woman slain by men in ancient times, given this paradise by the old gods. Their bodies are eternal, without disease or age."

Iquarius shook and a death rattle emerged from his throat. "Nothing is free of disease, nothing is eternal. It is the way of all flesh."

"If you say so," said the Adversary.

"Why have we come alone? My Legion-"

"Oh," the Adversary cut him off, "Where's the fun in that?"

He stood before Shinji, sizing him up.

"Up there are the Amazons," he said, pointing at the apex of the island. "Asuka is to be spared. We will have her alive, but the rest must die. Kill them all."

Shinji's foot moved of its own accord, earthshaking pain lancing through his body when he tried to stop it. He shambled past the Adversary, who folded his hands behind his back and watched. The daemon dragged his body forward across the strange sands. He had to be in another world- he'd never seen any island like this before, and he'd been everywhere. The Adversary walked beside him.

"I know you want to hurt me," he mused. "Focus on it. The desire, the anger. I gave it to you. I am the truth that you cower from, that you hide with your heroism and your silly little costume. This day was inevitable, from the moment you were born. All your dreams, all your hopes die today with innocent blood on your hands."

Iquarius clapped, snickering to himself. It sounded like the cough of a wounded man.

Shinji's teeth clenched, and he froze.

"I-I'll s-s-stop y-you…"

The Adversary burst out laughing. "Daemon, do your job. We must see to the invasion."

His legs dragged him forward, shambling across the sand. There was a flash, and he knew they were gone, leaving him to stumble forward alone. He heard hooves crunching on sand. The creature left him his senses, so when it allowed him to look, he saw her approaching with ease. A woman on horseback in Greek armor and a high helm, bearing a long spear that wasn't a spear. There was technology inside it, more advanced than any he'd ever seen.

The Amazon drew up on her horse at the foot of the path leading through the trees and leveled her weapon.

"Halt! No man sets foot on this island!"

It took every ounce of effort to work his jaws. "R-run," he croaked.

"Never!" the Amazon cried, and heeled her mount into a charge.

The tip of her spear took on a bright glow, and when it hit him, it was like a crack of thunder. For her. The haft folded from the impact and shattered, the explosive concussion throwing her off her mount. The horse went down screaming, and the daemon used his arm to seize it and end its live with a simple twist of his wrist. Horrified, the Amazon clambered back, dragging a sword out of a scabbard at her hip. The daemon caught her swing, crumpled her it Shinji's hand, and swung his other around in a clumsy blow. It sent the Amazon tumbling head over heels across the sand. She landed in a limp mass.

Shinji barked out a sob.

"_What are you doing?"_

The daemon snapped his head around.

For a moment, he thought it was Asuka, but it couldn't be. Asuka was physically fit but this woman was well muscled, built like an athlete with a swimmer's shoulders and lithe legs. She wore a kind of stylized armor- not much for protection, as it left her shoulders and most of her legs bare. Her fiery hair was bound back with a silver tiara and there were heavy bracers around her wrists. She held out her hands.

"Shinji? Shinji, what happened?"

The daemon lurched around towards her and started shambling forward.

"Shinji, it's me. It's Asuka."

_Oh._

"I don't know what's wrong with you, but we can fix it."

_Oh God._

"R-run," he croaked. "F-f-for G-God's s-sake r-ru… ruh…"

She froze, and took a step back.

She chewed her lip, watched him for a second, and bolted for the injured Amazon. Shinji felt the daemon drag him forward, lifting him through the air, his feet dangling beneath him. His arm shot out and seized her long crimson braid and yanked her back, and his other fist met her face. She spun around and rolled across the sand, landing face down. Blinking, she lifted up her head and touched her split lip, drawing away a tiny spot of blood.

_The little god said alive, _the daemon rasped, its voice like a thousand fiery needles in his brain. _It didn't say unhurt._

* * *

His attitude control was going wild and the world was spinning to match it. He was turning both end over and yawning hard when he hit the wall of the Galactica's hangar, and he didn't have time to slow down. He crashed into a pile of crates, rolled over, and used his hand emitter to boost back up onto his feet. Mari landed beside him, the face plate of her helmet flipping open.

"Are you alright?" she shouted.

"Fine!" he barked. "Watch out!"

One of the red-skinned devil things reared up behind her. She spun around, ducked its molten metal sword, and blasted it in the face with her repulsors. She went high and he went low, pummeling it with bursts until it came apart in steaming, multi-colored ichor. It hit the wall in a steaming, smoking mass that burst into multi-colored flame and flashed, prompting him to raise his gauntlet and shield his eyes.

"Match your frequency to mine!" Mari shouted, diving into the fray.

Shinji stared at his radio icon and blinked. A SOUND ONLY bar appeared in his HUD, and her helmet clamped shut.

"Stay on my six!"

She took off, leaping up, and dove into a pack of the creatures. Shinji stomped after her, his boot jets too powerful to use in the confined space of the hangar. His HUD flickered as the thing's blades scraped across his AT-Field as he shouldered past them.

The big one reared up, swinging its sword. Hikari whirled the hammer over her head and leapt over the swinging, his armor gleaming like a miniature son. With a mighty war cry she ran right up the thing's arm and swung the hammer around, burying it between its eyes. With a snarl like an earthquake, it grabbed her in its enormous hand, hurled her to the deck, and raised its sword high.

Optimus Prime roared across the hangar, scattering the little monsters in either direction as he plowed through them, fired jets on his undercarriage, and transformed. He tackled the creature away from Hikari and spun it around, crashing it into the wall, his servos and joints grinding as he grappled with it. Hikari rose up, spinning the hammer by its lanyard, and hurled it into the creature's face. There was a crash of thunder and the wall buckled.

Shinji turned around just in time to see one of the daemons raise its sword overhead. There was a rippling double boom, and the thing's head burst apart like a ripe melon, spraying him with steaming ichor. It shrieked, the sound gurgling through the ruins of its throat, and ran around in a circle, crashed into Ironhide's leg, and exploded.

The Hunter grabbed Shinji's face plate with his hand while he flipped open his shotgun, ejecting a pair of shells. Shinji pushed his chin down into the release and opened his helmet.

"They're getting out of the hangar!"

Shinji nodded and closed his helmet.

"Mari!"

"Where are you?! I told you to watch my tail!"

"Listen up," Shinji barked, "They're getting out of the hangar. We have to-"

A raging Astartes with a chainaxe in either hand roared towards him, raising his weapons overhead. Shinji ducked one swing, turned the other with his AT-Field, and fired his repulsor's in the monster's armored gut. Vampire Rei leapt onto his back, yanked the power cables from his power plant, and with a grunting twist of her entire body, twisted the snarling helm around in a three-quarter circle.

Shinji bolted for the door, shouldering aside monsters and ducking bolter fire. He saw Toji with the _other _Vampire Rei standing behind his back, wrestling with one of the daemons. He flipped his helmet open again.

"With me!" he barked, "Hold the line! Don't let them get off the hangar!"

They lined up at the door. Toji rooted himself to the deck and put himself between the creatures and the corridor, their brazen sword and brass claws scraping over his impenetrable skin, while Rei tore out of their blades free and swung it around wildly, cleaving their alien, otherworldly flesh. Mari landed beside him in a crouch and together with Shinji laid down a crossfire.

Shinji blinked as a dozen alarms went off. Mari's voice crackled in his ear.

"Something's coming!"

There was a green flash in the middle of the hangar, and a great machine made of interlocking, folded planes of emerald light just _appeared_, unfolding itself out of the air, and began dismantling. In the center of it, Rei, Ritsuko, and Hikari appeared. Shinji blinked; he thought it was Ritsuko; she wore her hair long and it wasn't bleached blonde. Rei had brown hair, and Hikari… Hikari was half robot.

"Whatever," he groaned.

The three of them ran towards him as Optimus stumbled backwards, groaning. The enormous daemon took a bounding step forward, whirled its flame-whip, and looped it round and round the Autobot leader's legs, dragging him from his feet, and raised its flashing molten sword high. It brought it down in a wicked arc and Optimus rolled, the point digging through his side as Ironhide shoulder-checked the beast away. With a roar, it seized him and rolled, crashing through a docked Raptor, thankfully stripped of munitions.

Shinji blinked. The Ghostbusters ran up next to Toji and raised their weapons. Asuka winked at him.

"Light 'em up!" she screamed.

The proton streams lit the hangar like a second sun, screamed into the titanic beast, and wrapped around it like chains. All four of the Ghostbusters grunted, holding on for dear life as their proton wands dragged them across the floor, scraping their boots. Shinji and Mari turned their fire on the daemons racing towards them. Hikari -the new Hikari, not the one with the hammer- unfolded her arm and joined in, firing whining blasts of light from a cannon in her wrist. The new Rei dispassionately aimed her fist at the daemons and sliced them in half with thin beams of emerald light from the ring on her finger.

Ritsuko walked calmly forward, peeled the white cat off her shoulder, and held it up before a rushing Astartes, a crackling sword raised over his head to strike.

"Streaky!" she screamed, "_Sick em!" _

The cat leapt out of her hands like a bullet, crashed into the Astarte's helmet, and with a yowling feline shriek of rage tore it apart with its bare claws. One of the daemons took a swing at the cat, only to miss and cleave into the Astarte's head, its sword sticking there. The cat hissed and twin beams of heat lanced out of her eyes, slicing cleanly through the daemon's head. She leapt, bounced, and took off, racing through the air, her legs folded under her body.

"Uh," said Mari.

"_Little help here!" _Ghostbuster-Asuka shouted, dragging on her proton wand. Toji broke ranks to run to her side, grab it, and root her to the spot. Both vampire-Reis joined him, looping their arms around Ghostbusters Shinji and Toji.

"Rei!" Ghostbuster-Asuka screamed.

The vampires looked at her.

"Not you! The other one! Get the trap! _Get the trap!" _

Shinji's turned to Mari. "Hold the line here."

He activated his external speakers and faced the new Rei, glancing at her ring.

"Rei?"

"Perhaps it would be more efficient to refer to me as 'Green Lantern.'"

"Whatever! You're with me. Maximals! Hunter! Get over here. There's more of these things on the ship! They're not after us, they want to cripple the _Galactica!"_

* * *

The yellow alien reached out and touched her forehead. Asuka blinked at the rush of sea air in her face, snapping her head around in confusion. She stumbled, her feet slipping in the sand, and she heard an explosion. It took her a moment to orient herself. She was on an island. There were structures above her on a steep hill; Greek, by the architecture. One of them was very large, some kind of temple, and it was a flaming ruin. She ran three steps down the sand, threw her arms to her side, and took off, the world tilting lazily beneath her, and bathed the island in her x-ray vision.

She picked him out immediately, and she flew, the air rushing in her ears.

Shinji lurched forward, his arms hanging at his side. His cape was gone and he was covered in scratches from barbed wire looped around his throat and his arms. The wire moved like a living thing, shining and oily, and with her superhuman sight she could see _something else_ slithering over his skin, moving him like a marionette.

She gasped as she saw his mirror image rocket towards her, skidding to a stop in the air, gaping.

Not exactly his mirror image. A little younger, less heavily built, his costume looking more like the one Shinji'd made himself rather than the modified plugsuits Ritsuko had designed for him. He hung in the air, his cape billowing out behind him.

"Who are you?"

"Who are _you?" _she snapped.

"I'm Superman. What's going on here? I-"

Both their heads turned as Asuka saw herself, dressed in some kind of weird armor, running at Shinji -her Shinji- carrying probably a half a ton of marble over her head. She took a running leap and brought it down on his shoulders, splintering it into half a dozen pieces and so much dust. He turned around in a slow lurch, brought up his fist, and rammed it into her face. Her head snapped back, and she hit the marble stairs of the temple and slid through them, buckling the stone in half.

The other Shinji roared in fury and dove towards her. Asuka had to struggle to keep up, shielding her belly from the air pressure with her arms. The other Shinji landed at the other Asuka's side, lifting her head from the ground. Asuka felt a strange pang at their tenderness, the way he touched her cheek.

"The baby," she moaned.

"What baby?" Asuka demanded, landing beside them.

The other Shinji shot her a brief, calculating look.

"I'm sorry," he said, and took off.

"Wait!" Asuka shouted.

He took off, heading for her Shinji. The barbed wire dragged him around and they met in midair. There was a brief moment, like the tensing in the air before a clap of thunder, and the shockwave rolled over her, nearly bowling her off her feet. Asuka threw herself over her counterpart, turning her back to shield them both. They took off into the air together, wrestling, bobbing and weaving through the sky. Asuka looked down.

"What baby?"

"_My_ baby," the other Asuka shouted, pushing to her feet.

Her legs were shaking and she clutched the side of her head.

"Gott, I can't even slow him down."

Asuka took a deep breath. "Where's the baby?"

"Mama has her," the other Asuka panted.

Asuka froze. "What did you say?"

"This way."

Asuka spun on her heels, feeling the impact before she even heard it. The two Shinjis were wrestling in the air. They came down in a streak and hit the ocean, just out of sight, but she could see the plume of water rising. The other Asuka grabbed her arm and tugged her.

"You're pregnant," she said, breathless. "Are you an Amazon?"

"A what? No, I'm a Kryptonian hybrid, I-"

"A what?" said the other Asuka. "Nevermind. This way."

They ran together, Asuka's feet not really touching the ground, as they headed down the stairs. Asuka felt tear sting her eyes. This place had obviously been beautiful once, but it was wrecked now. There were uprooted trees everywhere, drag marks and craters in the soft earth of the paths between cracked buildings. Flames licked the sky, sending up plumes of dark smoke.

"He did all this?" Asuka breathed.

"Yes," said the other Asuka. "He appeared out of nowhere and started tearing up the island. Who the hell are you people?"

"We're from another universe. I think," she said, slowing. "I'm not really… I'm having a bad day."

The other Asuka gave her a sharp look. Her black eye made it ominous. "Join the club."

"I'm sorry, I- he's my husband. Something must be controlling him. He wouldn't do this."

"I believe you," said the other Asuka. "I can feel the evil on him, it's in that wire. We have to get it off of him somehow."

"Where are we going?"

"The palace, it's the only place he hasn't wrecked yet. Hurry."

Asuka followed her up stone steps set in the earth to the highest part of the mountain. The palace was smaller than the temple, built in the same style. To Asuka, it looked like pictures out of a history book. She stumbled when she saw the figure standing between the columns at the front gate, a dark-haired baby in her arms. Taller than Asuka, she was paler and her hair was a few shades lighter.

"Mama," Asuka whispered.

Kyoko moved down the stairs lightly on her feet, holding the baby close to her chest.

"What happened?"

"Shinji's here," the other Asuka said.

Kyoko touched her split lip. She pulled away.

"It's nothing, Mother. Please."

Asuka couldn't stop herself. She moved forward in a trance, holding her hands out until her fingers touched Kyoko's cheeks. She wasn't a ghost, or an illusion, or a robot, she was real.

"Mama," Asuka sobbed.

Kyoko gave her the strangest look, and then broke out into a gentle smile.

Asuka sucked in a sharp breath and looked at the baby.

She had Shinji's eyes.

"C-Can I hold her?"

"Of course," said Kyoko.

Asuka took the infant carefully in her arms. She grabbed a lock of her hair and tugged. She was incredibly strong. Asuka barked out a half-sob, half-laugh, and tears stung her cheeks.

"You're pregnant with his child, aren't you?" said the other Asuka.

"Yes."

"How did you get here?" said Kyoko.

"There were these things, these… yellow aliens," said Asuka.

The other Asuka paled.

"What did you say?"

"It doesn't matter," Asuka said, passing the baby back to Kyoko. "We have to save him. We have to…"

A green light fell over her and she felt a sudden, instinctive panic. She stumbled backwards, clutching her belly, until the light on her skin proved no threat and she relaxed. A ball of green light zoomed towards them, turned in a lazy circle.

It was Toji. Riding a flying motorcycle made out of green light. He didn't so much dismount as the bike folded up into his leg, which was made of out the same green energy field as his arm. He dashed up to Asuka and looked from her to the other Asuka in confusion.

"Okay," he said, "Can somebody tell me what the hell is going on?"

"There's a Shinji from a parallel universe," said the other Asuka, "and he's being mind controlled. Our Shinji is fighting him now."

Toji nodded. "Hold on a second."

He turned, aimed his Green Lantern ring at the sky, and fired off a tiny shard of light that rocketed into the sky, twinkling.

"What was that?" said Asuka.

"A distress call," said Toji. "Let's go."

* * *

Mari ducked a sword swing, blasted a daemon in the face with her hand repulsor, and turned just in time to see Toji Suzahara body-check another one as it brought its sword down on her. There were so many Ayanamis in the room, she was starting to lose track of which one was which. The suit's sensor suite struggled to clean up her view, projecting infrared images of figures running through the smoke. Between the gigantic, bat-winged monster and Hikari wailing on it, the hangar was being torn apart. The creatures kept rushing at her, trying to get out of the hangar and onto the ship. Within Shinji running off to chase them down, that left her.

The daemon reared up, brushing Hikari away with a swing of its huge arm. The other Hikari, the newcomer, was standing next to Mari, pouring fire from some kind of arm cannon into the monsters. A hissing cat flew over Mari's head and latched into one of the creature's face, bowling it over before it could take a swing at the Ghostbusters.

"This is either a nightmare," she said to no one in particular, "Or I am incredibly high right now."

The lurching, monstrous daemon snarled, swept a toothy, open-mouthed grin around the room, and rammed the blade of its sword into the roof of the hangar. Mari staggered, shoving one of the lesser creatures away from her. Red and blue flashing lights dipped from the ceiling, and a piercing alarm rang in her ears. She threw her faceplate up and looked around.

"If you can't breathe vacuum, _get the hell out of here! _Fall back!"

The visor dropped back down over her face- the Mark X was hardened for the vacuum. She moved to cover the retreat, opening up on the throng of monsters with her gauntlets and the pintle-mounted support repulsors on her shoulders. She turned to one of the giant robots. It was the one that turned into an ambulance. She thought.

"Hey!" she shouted, "Get ready to blow the landing doors!"

The giant robot nodded and turned back to the fray. The big red one they called Optimus was on his feet and rallying the others, and they were forming a line to cover the retreat from the hangar. Robot Hikari fell back, laying down fire to cover their flank as the Ghostbusters and the vampires and that weird Shinji with the chainsaw ran back through the hangar.

The daemon took another crack at the ceiling, driving its red-hot blade through the hull. The warnings grew louder and she heard the rush of air towards the opening. If they didn't vent the hangar, it would. Thor-Hikari ended up next to her, bashing the daemons backwards with the head of her hammer. It was down to her, Mari, and the robots. The doors were swinging closed behind her.

"Hey!" she shouted at Thor-Hikari. "How the hell are you going to breathe?"

"I am Thor Odinson," Hikari roared, smashing the hammer into the face of a daemon, shattering its skull, "and I can breathe in space!"

There were so many things about that sentence, Mari didn't even try.

"Blow it!" she shouted, her voice amplified by the speakers. "Blow the damn doors!"

She turned everything she had on the gigantic daemon, firing her shoulder and hip mounted micromunitions and her chest beam as Hikari hurled the hammer. They managed to stagger it as Prime aimed his enormous cannon at the far end of the hangar and fired, _kerr-whump_, and the others joined in, peppering the doors with fire from their energy weapons. There was a single moment of almost eerie calm, and then the doors folded out into the vacuum, followed by the onrush of air. Mari had to fire her repulsors to stabilize herself.

The daemon stumbled, flailed, and dragged its claws across the deck as its sword tumbled out into space and exploded in a flash of non-colors that the armor filtered out, leaving Mari with a momentary blank spot in her vision. Hikari screamed, her voice stolen by the rushing air, and threw the hammer again. It cracked the beast in the nose and bounced back into her hand, and its grip loosed, deck plating coming up under it as it tumbled end over end into the blackness. Mari leaned into the wind and kicked down to fire her boot jets and took off after it, surrounded by swirling air and flailing daemonic bodies.

The daemon rolled over the edge of the hangar pod, its wings tangling under it, and then managed to plant its cloven feet on the outer hull of the ship. It roared soundlessly and charged across the hull, a new sword warping into being in its fist, and turned towards the engines. Mari fought to stabilize herself, the ship and the distant Earth pitching around her, as Hikari sailed calmly through the void, her body surrounded by a nimbus of pale light. She spun the hammer around her head and threw it, but didn't let go, the heavy strap dragging her by the wrist. Mari had to push hard on the throttle to keep up.

She cruised by the creature, strafing its back as Hikari turned the hammer on it. Mari couldn't hear the clash of hammer against blackened brass, but she could feel the impacts in her chest, somehow. The daemon pushed her back with a wild swing and scoured the hull with its flaming whip. Multicolored ichor dripped from its wounds, and where it struck the hull, new daemons rose up, hissing into life, and rushed past Hikari, headed for the ship's engines.

Mari landed, clamped herself to the hull with magnets in her boots, and opened fire on them, but they were coming too fast. They swarmed her, their swords clanging against her armor until Hikari turned to sweep them away with a crashing blow of her hammer. As they did, the greater daemon lashed out with its whip, looping it around Hikari's leg, and tugged. She sailed up and over the daemon's head and slammed into the deck. The ship rolled under Mari's feet, and she had no choice but to disengage, or be swarmed by the creatures. The daemon thundered forward, cracking its whip at its smaller brothers and lashing the hull with its sword.

Hikari got up, lifted the hammer over her head, and brought it down on the beast's back. Mari winced, seeing the beast buckle as the head of Mjolnir crashed through its spine. It grappled with Mari, turning at an impossible angle, its slavering jaws falling open too wide, and they rolled over the hull. Hikari pounded it again and again with punishing blows from the hammer, and then raised it high, her grip choked up just under the head. She planted the haft in the daemon's chest and lightning lanced from nowhere, slamming down through the hammer into the daemon. The blast arced over its body, charring its flesh, but still it resisted, snapping at Hikari. It began to lose its shape, its wings folding at impossible angles, its arms splitting and breaking and reforming. As it reached its feet, Hikari took a two-handed swing and crushed its head like a melon, and it flailed back, rolling.

It went over the edge, right into the Galactica's thruster, and rolled inside. Hikari turned with a look of horror on her face, swung the hammer around, and grabbed Mari by the waist, dragging her away through space. Multicolored flame burst out of the engine cone, warping and wrapping around it like tentacles, flowing through the airless void like liquid. A silent explosion followed, a series of blasts in a thousand impossible hues roaring through the engines. The ship lurched, and Mari turned, hitting her boot jets as the battered hangar door pitched away from them.

* * *

Kaji stood over Gendo. He'd dispensed with the costume, finding the strange man more tractable if he wore his civilian clothes. A turn with a razor, some shears, and a shower had done wonders for him, though he'd insisted on shaving his entire beard- he could have passed for someone else. He brightened a little when he saw his reflection, and then ended up sinking back into his chair and sulking. Kaji pulled up a chair and sat in front of him.

"I need your help," Kaji said calmly, keeping his voice bright and clear. "Gendo, I need your help. Our Shinji is missing. He went to the Moon to investigate an alien signal, and he disappeared. Do you know what happened to him?"

The man trembled, his eyes wide. "It's _him." _

"Who?"

"My son," said Gendo.

"Shinji," said Kaji.

"Yes, yes, that's him. You don't know what he is," he muttered, clutching the sides of his head. "You don't _understand." _

"Understand what?"

"What it is," his eyes snapped up. "Do you know what it is? What is the Riddle of Steel?"

"I don't know what that is," Kaji said, calmly. "That phrase doesn't appear anywhere. Where did you hear it?"

"He said it to me," said Gendo, "he asked me that before he cut my fingers off."

Kaji blinked.

"He fixed me later," said Gendo, waving his hand in front of his eyes. "Perfect, free from disease or injury, immortal, that's what he said. He opened a _door._ I saw it. I can see forever and it _hates us._"

Kaji palmed his face and sighed. "Did he say anything else?"

"He said… he said there is a man with a typewriter," said Gendo. "Yes, he said that."

Kaji tapped his chin. "You said something before. You said 'he can see the prose'."

"Yes, yes he sees it, he made me watch and he told me about the prose when he killed the children. A whole world where we were all children, you and me and your woman and we were the pilots. Do you know what he did? You watched her die. You were screaming."

Kaji swallowed. His hands clenched into fists.

"How could he take our Shinji? He's very powerful, Gendo."

"Yes," said Gendo, "I see that, now. So much more powerful than I ever imagined. He has a core now, like one of them. Something happened, he did something to the Eva, made it himself, and he ate the others, consumed them. He made himself more than he was."

Kaji stood up. "What is he doing? What does he want with us?"

"Not you," Gendo said hastily, "Not you at all. Cores, it's cores he wants, cores and seeds."

Kaji walked in a slow circle. "Cores… angel cores. S2 engines?"

Gendo looked at him blankly. "Right, those."

"Infinite energy," said Kaji, "infinity times infinity… on and on, every time he eats another one. Why? What would he be doing with it?"

He remembered what Ritsuko said about Rei's equations, and the amount of energy needed to punch between universes, but this other Shinji could already do that, and under his own power, even. Why would he need more? What would take more power than that? He scrubbed his hands through his hair and paced back and forth. Gendo watched him like a puppy, his head swiveling to and fro to track his motion. Kaji gave him an exasperated sigh and sat down.

"Is there anything else you can tell me about him?"

"Evil," said Gendo, "Evil beyond imagining. It's my fault."

"Yes, yes, I know. You've told me that. What does he _want?"_

"He said he had them," said Gendo. "Everyone but me, but Keel and the others. He killed them. He killed them all."

"Had them? What do you mean, had them?"

"Their souls," said Gendo, "Their immortal souls are part of his being."

Kaji watched him in silence. Gendo surged to his feet, taking Kaji by the collar, but his grip was feeble, shaking. He sank to his knees.

"All I wanted was for my wife to come home. Is that so wrong? All I ever wanted was her."

Kaji shoved him away. "What about your son?"

"I would only hurt him," said Gendo. "I would only-"

Kaji slapped him, clenching his teeth. "Shut up."

Gendo recoiled, shielding his face with his hands. The bruise on his jaw faded as soon as it had appeared.

"If what you say is true, this mess is your fault," said Kaji, "and you're going to help me put a stop to it."

The elevator was coming down. Kaji spun on his heels, watching it move through the open shaft to the black stone of cavern floor. The door slid open, and Misato stepped out. Kaji's heart quickened for a moment. She stared at the floor as she stepped out. She wasn't alone.

There were two men behind her. One of them was huge, his head shaved, with rippling muscles under a small, painted leather vest. The other fixed his eyes on Kaji immediately, regarding him with a soft smirk. Smartly dressed, he had an air of age and worldly wisdom, his dark eyes rich with experience that more than matched the faint streaks of white in his dark hair.

Kaji motioned for Gendo to remain still.

"We meet at last," said the older man, "I've been watching you for some time, Detective."

"I expected you might have a hand in this. I know who you are."

"Do you?"

"The Demon's Head. Ra's Al Ghul."

"Indeed. You are more capable than I once believed, though not the timeless adversary I had been hoping for."

"You and your organization were behind Seele. You set Kiel up with the secret scrolls, and put him in place to take the fall for you if the plan failed, to allow yourself to regroup without detection."

"And you have been dogging my every step since then. Very good, Detective."

"You're involved in this. You disappeared a few weeks ago. Where have you been?"

"Securing my supremacy over this world. Where Kiel and Seele failed me, my new ally will succeed. I will finish what Second Impact began. Earth will be cleansed, renewed, restored to its proper balance."

"You must have missed the Institute. We're already doing that."

He smirked. "You think you are, but you place your faith in these aliens without thought. What will happen when their children, and their children's children have dominion over the Earth, when the world is divided between Kryptonian overlords and mere mortals? That is, I am afraid, why I am here. I require your Kryptonite."

* * *

Toji was getting worried. The weight of his sidearm under his jacket the only real consolation he had. Hikari, Akagi, and Asuka were gone, and he was alone in his office. He heard a knock at the door, got up to rush over to it, and was brushed aside by Maya Ibuki, who closed it behind her and twisted the lock.

"Toji," she said sharply, "We have a problem."

"What problem?"

"Somebody kidnapped Misato! I saw them take her into Kaji's office, I-"

"Why didn't the alarm go off," said Toji, rushing to the door. "How did they get in?"

"I don't know," said Maya. "I was going to get a cup of coffee and monitor the MAGI when I saw them. I don't think they noticed me."

Toji scratched his chin. "What did they look like?"

"There was a big guy dressed up like a genie, and an old man in a cape. The big guy had a gun."

"I should sound the alarm," said Toji, turning to his desk.

He hesitated, his hand hovering under the silent alarm switch.

"What?" said Maya.

"If I trip the alarm, it'll sound in the Batcave. It might be best if they don't know we know they're here."

His phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and checked the ID. He was hoping it was Hikari, but it came up 'Unknown'. It kept buzzing, so he flipped it open and touched it to his ear.

"Suzahara. Open your door."

Toji blinked. "Who is this?"

"We didn't want to freak you out. Open the door."

Toji moved to the door, reaching under his jacket to rest his palm on the grip of his gun. He turned the knob slowly, and nodded at Maya. She edged away, towards the corner, hiding behind a filing cabinet. Toji pulled the door open, and jumped backwards, fumbling for his gun. Maya screamed, pressing herself into the wall.

"Relax," said Batman.

He walked into the room. A second Batman followed, carrying a metal briefcase. He pulled the door shut, and they undid their cowls, pushing them back over their heads.

"Kaji didn't answer his phone. We figured we should come dressed for a party."

Toji blinked. "Uh, I haven't had the pleasure."

The first of the Batmen was slightly taller and leaner, with a more angular face and jet black hair. "Terry McGinnis."

"Tim Drake."

"Right," said Toji, "He said he was working with you guys. Wow, you're fast."

Drake shrugged. "We were on our way in anyway. We've been gathering intelligence about the Demon's Head."

"That doesn't matter right now," said Toji, "Misato Katsuragi has been abducted. I think they took her down to the cave."

McGinnis handed him a briefcase. "We've been talking this over for a while, but we don't have a choice now. Consider this a field promotion."

Toji rested the case on his desk and flipped up the locks. Inside, neatly folded, was a Bat-cowl, the open lower half like a screaming mouth. It was dark as night and slithery under is hands, unnerving to touch. Under it was a full suit and utility belt.

"Maya," said Toji, "Go to your office and lock the door. Don't open it for anybody, you understand?"

"Yes," she said trembling.

"I'll go with you," said Drake, and followed her out.

McGinnis nodded at Toji. "We could always use another hand."

"I don't know if I'm up to this."

"Put it on. You'll know."

He stepped outside. Toji swallowed. He needed to get down into that cave and find out what the hell was going on. He glanced around nervously, nestled the cape in the case, and took off his jacket and rested his gun in his drawer, then shrugged out of the holster. In a moment he was down to his skivvies and pulling on the suit, stepping into the hard boots. It felt strange; the suit itself was made out of some kind of weird polymer, and the boots and knees were reinforced, the knees especially. The shirt was the same way, with padding around his chest that made him look a lot bigger. The gloves had some kind of exoskeleton built into them, and when he draped the cape around his shoulders, the tips tugged towards the floor until he secured it and pulled on the cowl. Pads on the inside fit over his ears, and somehow, he could actually hear better with it surrounding his head. He glanced at the picture of Hikari on his desk and blinked. He didn't even look like himself.

He was putting the belt on as McGinnis stepped back into the office, his cowl up.

"Pay attention," he said, sharply. "There's a small radio in the cowl. Activate it by tapping the left side of your head, twice, like this," he demonstrated, and his voice doubled in Toji's ear. "There's reinforcement in the suit and gloves, and there are packs of lead shot in the tips of the cape that you can use as a weapon. I don't have time to run you down on all the gear in the utility belt, so don't touch it. Seriously, don't touch it."

Toji nodded, and Drake returned, also masked.

"How do we get down there?" said Toji. "They'll see us coming."

"You really think that he only has one way in and out?" said Drake. "There's about a dozen entrances. Follow us."

Kaji fell in behind them. As he moved, he felt the suit settle on him. He really did feel different, changed somehow. He saw his reflection in the polished floor and blinked. He was something of the night, strange and ethereal.

"There's an access tunnel under the memorial," said McGinnis. "It'll take us a while to get down there, but it's better than sitting up here on our heels."

"I hope he has a plan for this," said Toji.

McGinnis and Drake looked at each other and smirked at some secret joke.

* * *

Asuka rushed forward, until her counterpart seized her arm and pulled her backwards.

"Let me go!" she shouted, shaking loose. The Amazon was strong, but she was Asuka's equal, despite being, well, _her._

"Asuka," Kyoko said calmly, "Think. You can't stop him without risking your child."

Asuka turned on her, ready to snap at her, but she just couldn't. She withered, sinking to her knees, folding her arms over her stomach. She was so _useless_. Kyoko moved beside her, cradling the baby against her shoulder with one arm, and pulled Asuka up with the other.

"Come inside. The others will handle this."

"But-"

"Asuka, please. Your child-"

Her head snapped around as a plume of water shot up into the sky. She saw a red and blue blur rocket skyward, disappearing into the crystal blue sky. She turned to follow, only to falter. The other Asuka took a bounding leap and took off, followed by Toji and his strange green ring.

"Don't hurt him!" Asuka shouted.

"Tell him that!" Toji shot back.

Standing there on the steps of the temple made her remember what it was like to be normal, to be so small beside Shinji. She could see it all in perfect clarity, her damned Kryptonian sight allowing her to follow the battle perfectly. Their Shinji moved with a strange grace, twisting and flitting in the air. Her Shinji moved like someone was dragging him. He flew upright with his legs dangling beneath him, without grace, without the _joy _he shared with her when they flew. He crashed into the other Shinji like a bludgeon, and she could feel the impact in her chest.

Toji raced up on a column of light, extending his ring. Green light raced towards Shinji and wreathed around him. Shackles formed on his arms and legs, and luminous green chains wrapped around him, around and around, binding him a bundle of light. There was a pause.

"I have him!" Toji cried. "We have to-"

Shinji flexed, his arms dragged out by the barbed wire digging into his skin, and the chains shattered. Toji screamed and tumbled through the air, his light winking out. Amazon-Asuka dove to catch him, supporting him under the shoulder as the green light ignited again. The other Shinji seized Shinji from behind, squeezing his chest. Shinji spun around, writhed free, and drove his elbow into his counterpart's face. He seized him, clamping down on his head with both hands, spun around at a neck-breaking speed, and hurled him into the ground.

Asuka raced forward as the other Shinji came down, throwing up a plume of sand and debris. He stood up, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, and held his hand out in warning.

"Stop," he gasped.

"It's not working," she shouted, "Please, let me-"

Shinji came down foot-first and buried his counterpart in the ground, stomping him down. Amazon-Asuka jumped him, ringing her arms around his neck, but he peeled her off easily, dragged her through the air by the shoulder, and crashed her into the ground head first. The Other Shinji roared in fury and delivered a savage uppercut and a right cross that devolved into a fury of haphazard blows. Her Shinji didn't even seem to notice. He backhanded the other Shinji away, then grimly started walking towards the temple.

Toji landed beside her, holding his ring out. "Shinji! Grab her-" he pointed at Asuka, "and get her out of here!"

"Why?" the Other Shinji shouted back, wiping his chin. He was dragging his Asuka from the sand, where she lay, dazed, her face a mask of blood from the nose down.

"I can use my ring to replicate k-rads," Toji shouted, "Get her out of here!"

The other Shinji seized her, moving so fast she barely saw him. It took her a moment to process it. K-Rads. K.

_Kryptonite. _

"_No!" _she screamed, shoving him the Other Shinji away. She elbowed out of his grasp and grabbed Toji, seizing him by the wrist.

"_I'll rip your arm off!" _

"I have to!" Toji shouted, "he'll kill us all!"

"_No he won__'__t!" _Asuka shrieked, her voice cracking from the strain.

She shoved Toji back and turned around. Shinji was grimly striding forward. She could see it. She could see the struggle as he fought the _thing _that was making him do this. She pushed Toji back. The other Shinji seized her by the wrist, pulling her away. She turned and backhanded him, her arm whistling through the air so fast it was followed a split second later by the crack of the sound barrier shattering. He stumbled backwards, landing on his backside.

"I'm sorry," she said, her eyes stinging with tears. "I won't let you hurt him."

She turned towards Shinji. He lurched forward, every step trembling. The barbed wire looped around his throat, the points digging tiny furrows into his flesh that wept blood. She steeled herself and stalked forward, her hands balled into fists at her side. Toji slowly stood, tears wet on his cheeks, and aimed his ring at her.

Amazon-Asuka grabbed his wrist. "No," she croaked.

Asuka stood in front of him. She met his eyes, his beautiful blue eyes like the sky he loved so much. Just like the day she first saw him, forever ago on a wrecked airplane that he caught out of the sky, when he fell so in love with her at first sight he couldn't remember his own name.

"I know you're in there."

He trembled, his fingers shaking.

She moved closer to him. "Do you remember what you said to me in the apartment, the night I ran away?"

Shinji slowed. Her eyes flitted to his hands. His right hand was opening and closing, opening and closing. The barbed wire _grew_, sliding over his fingers, but the opened and closed anyway, and she saw the muscles of his arm straining, pulling against one another. She could hear his bones creaking.

"I asked you if you'd stay with me forever," she said, her voice cracking. "You said you would and I asked you how you knew."

Slowly, his hand raised, as if to choke her. She moved forward, brushing between them, watching him strain. The barbed wire on his arms scratched her shoulders. She reached up and put her arms around his neck and pulled his head to her, touching her cheek to his.

"You said 'I'm Superman. I can do anything.'"

His whole body shook. He took a half step and his foot froze, hovering over the ground. His jaw clenched.

She held him as tight as she could, until her muscles screamed, ignoring the barbs digging into her arms. She touched her lips to his ear and whispered in a small, secret voice that only he would be able to hear.

"I believed you."

Shinji reared up, pushing her back, his head lolling from side to side. She stumbled, but she didn't fall. He scrambled backwards, His hands moving slowly towards his throat. His eyes locked on hers.

"Get back."

She turned and she ran. She grabbed Toji by the collar and dragged him along, and the other Asuka took the hint, hobbling back, leaning on her Shinji's shoulder. Shinji reared back, opened his mouth, and screamed. The sheer force of him emptying his lungs cracked the air like thunder and a shockwave rolled out from him, blasting the leaves off the trees, kicking up a ring of dust. His fingers slid under the barbed wire around his throat and he pulled, he leaned forward and leaned into it and pulled, and something alien, something ancient and beyond the ken of men _shrieked _in pain_. _

The wire drew out of his throat, curling around his hands. Multi-colored flame flickered around it, and the shrieking grew louder, more discordant. The wires were leaking, the strange energy that fueled them bubbling out into the air, like a rip in the world itself. Shinji took in a deep, _free _breath, and expanded his chest, thrusting out his arms. The wire peeled away from him and curled around his hands in a slithering mass, tendrils of it reaching out for his throat. He turned and with a savage cry threw it into the mud. It rolled over like a tumbleweed and crashed into a tree, still writhing.

Asuka raced to his side and he collapsed in her arms, sobbing. She drew him to her, cradling his head in her hands.

Asuka's jaw tightened with rage.

"_Look out!"_ Toji shouted.

The barbed wire mass grew larger and larger, twisting in on itself, and _changed._ It went red hot in an instant, sizzling, and melted. A pair of wings bedecked in jeweled feathers of a million shifting, changing hues rose out of the mass, followed by a monstrous hawk's head, its long mockery of a beak filled with needle teeth, all spiraling off in different directions. As it blinked its eyes were one moment like an insect, another like a man's, another like a cat. It stood up, its vast wings shadowing the island, and bellowed.

* * *

The deck rolled under his feet. He hit the wall, winced at the dent his armor put in it, and charged forward. The daemons and a squad of three Astartes were racing towards the main engines, and more importantly, the jump drive. If they reached it, the ship would be crippled and they would only have the compact drive in Shinji's suit to leap between universe. Shinji fired his boot jets and raced down the hall, tackled one of the daemons, and pinned it to the wall. It snarled and battered him with its elbow. He pushed his gauntlet emitter up under its chin and fired, painting the wall with multicolored blood.

An Astartes raised a power sword behind him, it sweep followed by crackling scarlet hues. Rhinox thundered down the hallway and opened up with his chainguns, sending the monstrous armored titan stumbling backwards, his limbs dancing as he was pummeled by gunfire. The sword fell out of his hand and Shinji ducked to grab it. It was too long for him, taking a two handed grip, but the servos in his armor helped him swing it. He found the activation stud and pushed his thumb against it, and the blade crackled to life. He turned his whole body in the swing and the blade bit through the Astarte's waist cables and into his flesh.

Snarling through the scowling visage of his helm, the Marine grabbed Shinji by the shoulder plates of his armor and hauled him up, spinning him around, and slammed him into the wall, all the while ignoring the crackling sword in his belly, cauterizing the wound. Shinji yanked the blade out, took it one handed and brought it around, but it glanced off the Marine's massive pauldron, leaving a scraping scorch mark across the armor. The Maximals opened up on the Astartes, but the frothing lunatic ignored their fire, even as one of the blasts caved in the left side of his helmet. He fixed his enormous armored fingers under Shinji's helmet and pushed up. The internals in his neck plating squeezed around his throat, and he dropped the sword.

There was a sharp, loud bang, and a fist-sized chunk of the Astarte's helmet and what lay underneath it blew out, painting the wall. For a moment his body was no worse the wear for the loss of his head, until his grip slackened and he fell to one side. Shinji grabbed the sword. A pack of hissing daemons was bearing down on him, and behind them, the other two Marines.

At least, for a moment. One of the Astartes calmly turned his heavy pistol on his comrade and ended him before the other even noticed, his armored form slumping against the wall, holstered his pistol, and drew a chainsword from his back. He waded into the daemons as the Hunter bellowed and fired up his saw in an exaggerated motion, and the two Reis came bounding into the fray, leaping over the Maximals, while Green Lantern Rei neatly started slicing the daemons in half, one by one, with a cutting beam from her ring.

The hallway became a slaughterhouse, multicolored ichor flying everywhere, the daemons screaming and shrieking as they were shot and pummeled and cut to pieces. It lasted no more than a few heartbeats, and when it was over, the lone Astartes faced them down, a dozen weapons aimed at his head. He thumbed off his chainsword and slowly lowered it to the deck, and raised his hands.

The Hunter leveled his shotgun, for all that would do. "Lose the helmet."

The Astartes slowly removed his helmet, and let his hands fall to his sides. Shinji aimed his emitters at his face. Unlike the others, he was unscarred, and relatively… sane looking. His features had the same distorted, inhuman cast, but other than that, he looked no less human than anyone else.

"Why did you help us?"

"I didn't. Their mission was to destroy your ship. That would conflict with _my _mission."

"Which is?" said Shinji.

"To ensure the Second Legion does not return whence they came."

"Who the hell are you?" said the Hunter.

The Marine smiled thinly. "I am Alpharius."

"Great," Shinji muttered.

The lights dimmed, and the deck rolled. Shinji found himself tumbling towards the walls with everyone else, and even the Astartes had to lean and put his hands out to brace himself from falling, his head boots sliding in the multihued ichor that coated the deck plating. The lights dimmed again and there was a titanic groan.

"Mari!" Shinji shouted, "Mari, come in!"

"I'm here," Mari said back, but her voice was distorted by static.

"What the hell happened?"

"We blew the big one out of the hangar, but it went into the engine cones! One of the engines just blew!"

Shinji wheeled. "Everybody up to the bridge, now! Green Lantern Rei, if Alpharius tries anything, vaporize him."

Rei nodded, aiming her ring. "Move," she said.

Ritsuko's cat jumped from her shoulder onto the Marine's shoulder pad and batted at him with her paw. The Astartes gave it a sharp look, but said nothing.

"Hurt my cat and you're a dead man," said Ritsuko.

Shinji led the way. He popped his helmet open when he stepped out into the CIC. The old man was standing behind one of the control panels, his expression a flat mask of annoyance.

"What the hell did you do to my ship?"

"It's a long story. Can she jump?"

"She'll jump."

"Jump where?" said the Hunter.

"They wanted to keep us from going to the next universe they're invading." Shinji turned his head slightly. "Mari, is everybody inside?"

"Yeah, hangar's locked down."

"Start the jump clock," said Shinji.

* * *

Shinji's feet slipped the grasp of earth and he surged at the thin bird-neck of the thing that moments ago had been a pool of molten barbed wire, roaring in fury, before the others could even react. He looped his arms around its throat and dragged it off its feet, slamming it into the ground.

"Do _you know what __**you made me do?**__"_

Eerie, gasping trills escaped its beak, and he realized it was laughing at him. He seized the beak in his hands, feeling its strange matter creak under his grasp, raised it over head, twisting the foul thing's neck, and pummeled it into the ground, over and over, throwing up plumes of mud. It belched iridescent, shifting flames at him that licked over his skin, blackening his suit, and in reply he turned the heat of his vision on it, charring the back of its throat. It coughed for air until its neck bulged and a hundred mouths full of needle teeth opened up on its neck and began breathing, sighing, and trilling.

He put his foot on the creature's neck, ignoring its teeth scraping over his boot, and took hold of it by its feathered head, and pulled. Its flesh stretched like taffy and its bones cracked, and it screamed a hollow, gurgling shriek that turned into a frothing cough as its head came away from its body in a stream of luminous, ever-shifting gore. He lifted it overhead and rammed the pointed end of the beak deep into its body, and pounded on the stump with his fist to bury it in the ground. He kept pounding until his fists were covered in stinking slime.

"_Shinji!" _Asuka cried, rushing towards him.

He stumbled away from the _thing_, and fell down, until he was seated. Asuka sank down next to him, pulling his head to her chest. He sobbed into her shoulder.

Toji walked over to the creature and passed it over with his ring.

"It's dying," he said, "I think. It's not really alive. It's some kind of energy. I've never seen anything like this. Whatever it is, it's cut off from the source and running out of juice."

He watched the creature oozing into its crater.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "about the radiation thing. I…"

Shinji shook his head as he stood up, leaning on Asuka.

"No," Shinji sighed, wiping the mud from his face with the back of his hand. "_I'm _sorry."

"Where did you come from?" his counterpart said, walking up behind Toji with his Asuka leaning on his side. She'd brushed the blood away from her face.

Shinji felt sick.

"Another world, like this one. I was… I went to investigate a Kryptonian signal, and I was ambushed. I woke up in a terrible place, and they put that _thing_ on me. There was another… there were other Shinjis there and…"

"What?"

"Other Asukas. Hundreds of them. They were experimenting on them or something."

Asuka's grip on his hand tightened.

Shinji rubbed at his temple. "The leader said something about an invasion, but-"

Toji's ring flashed. "Hold on," he said.

He turned around, lifted his ring, and a thin streamer of light emerged from it, twisting itself into a conical shape that become a telescope. He held it in front of his eye and it moved back and forth, scanning the sky.

"Something just appeared in orbit."

"Let's go," said Shinji. He turned to Asuka. "Stay here."

"Oh, hell no."

Shinji sighed. Toji lifted his ring and a green aura appeared around the Amazon. Shinji lifted off, followed by his counterpart and the others. Asuka flew beside him. He could hear her teeth grinding. When he knew where to look, he could see the object. It was trailing debris and the engine cones looked heavily damaged.

"That's not the ship that I saw," said Shinji. "It's too small."

He gave it a quick scan, looking through the walls. There was an… odd assortment of people and machines inside. There was a large pod on either side of the ship. He landed at the aft end, nearer the engine pods. Toji expanded his envelope of green energy to envelope them all, and Shinji felt air rush over his skin.

"What do we do?" said Toji. "Knock?"

The door started to slide silently open, pitching forward like a ramp. Shinji led the way, flanked by Asuka and the other Shinji. When they were inside, the door lifted up behind them. Toji looked around nervously. When the inner door opened, air rushed in, and Toji released his bubble. There was a bizarre assortment of figures waiting inside. Several of them had Shinji's face.

Asuka hissed between her clenched teeth and stomped forward, until he caught her arm.

"Wait."

The leader, dressed in what looked like a battered, battle scarred miniature version of Unit One, lifted up his helmet.

"Has it started?" he demanded.

"Has what started?" the other Shinji said.

"The invasion!"

"What invasion?"

Shinji spotted Rei, Ritsuko and Hikari in the crowd. They pushed forward. Ritsuko ran over to him and threw her arms around him, while Rei gave him a quiet, enigmatic smile. He blinked when she saw her strange clothes, and the ring on her finger. It caught Toji's attention, too.

"You are a Green Lantern," Rei noted.

"Hold on," said the Shinji in the armor. "Can we do the reunion thing later? There should be a fleet of ships full of a horde of monsters here devastating your planet."

"My ring isn't picking anything up," said Toji.

"Damn it!" the armored Shinji shouted, "Where the hell are they?"

"Wait," another Shinji said, stepping forward. Older and grizzled, he had a gun slung over his shoulder. "What if this was a diversion? They wanted us to come here instead of-"

"They who?" Asuka snapped.

"No time to explain," the armored Shinji shouted, turning to run. "Everybody! Brace for emergency jump!"

* * *

Kaji held his hands where Al Ghul and his companion could see them. Misato took a few experimental steps forward, until the thug grabbed her shoulder. She looked at Kaji darkly, her eyes flicking to her captor. Kaji edged forward, until he saw the big man jab Misato in the back with the barrel of his submachine gun.

"So this is the great Ra's Al Ghul, the legendary immortal," said Kaji. "Very chivalrous of you."

Al Ghul smirked. "Chilvalry is dead, Kaji. I would know."

"I suppose you would. But I know something you don't know."

"What is that?"

"Batman can be in many places at once."

There was a heavy thump a circuit opening and the lights went out. There was a scream, a thump, and in the muzzle flash Kaji saw Misato duck, ram her heel into the thug's knee, and duck under his gun, pushing it away by shouldering into his arms. She twisted and delivered a sharp kick into his side, swung her head under an awkward swing, and brushed the gun out of his hands, finishing with a solid uppercut to his chin with the heel of her hand.

Kaji darted to the chair where he'd hung his utility belt. He'd trained for this, going over the belt in total darkness, so that he could easily find the pouch he wanted. He tossed the smoke spheres out in a fan where Al Ghul had stood before the lights went out, and by the flashes as they sparked and started spewing thick smoke, he saw Misato and ran for her. She tensed when his hand touched her arm, and then pressed herself against him, moving silently into the dark. He guided her towards the armory- they'd practiced this together, as much as she hated the cave, moving quickly and in silence, working by pure memory.

He ducked inside, pulled her in behind him, and pulled the door shut. He flicked the light on, confident that it would be invisible from the outside. Misato slapped him.

"You have Kryptonite?"

"Yes, but not here," he said, rubbing the bruise on his cheek.

He immediately began stripping out of his civvies. Misato shot him a look.

"Nothing you haven't seen before."

"What about Gendo?"

"He'll be fine," Kaji said absently, tugging on his leggings.

"Who cut the power?"

"McGinnis and Drake, if they have any brains," said Kaji, "otherwise, it was something else and we have to find out what."

Misato shuddered as he buckled the cape around his neck. "Do you really have to wear that?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, turn around."

She looked over her shoulder, went pale, and ground her teeth. "I am _not _wearing that."

"It's an emergency."

She shied and shrugged out of her jacket. He left his cowl hanging behind his head as she unbuttoned her shirt.

"You really shouldn't be enjoying this."

"Nothing I haven't seen before," he shrugged.

He had to help her into her suit. It was a lighter color than his, and sized for her, with reinforcement around the chest and hips, more of a survival suit than something for combat. He pulled the cowl over her head, letting her hair drape through the opening in the back.

"I like you ridiculous."

"One thing you will never look in a skintight suit is ridiculous, my dear."

"Oh shut up," she snapped.

He flicked the light off.

"Hey!"

"Let your eyes adjust."

He tapped the side of her cowl, and repeated the gesture on his own, dropping the night vision optics over his eyes. She winced when she looked at him. The lenses covering his eyes made it seem that he had no pupils, which unnerved her further.

"Come on," he said.

He swung the door open and moved out, quietly. Misato, unfortunately, was damned noisy. He would hear her breathing a mile away. As the lenses adjusted, he saw Gendo standing in the dark, staring off into space, while McGinnis and Drake moved up on him, and a third. He blinked when he realized it was Toji. They'd talked about that. He supposed it was as good a time as any.

Only Gendo was truly left in the dark. Kaji stopped, motioning for Misato to haul up behind him.

"Okay," Toji said sharply, "Somebody want to tell me what the hell is going on?"

Kaji moved to the computer, opened the panel under the main keyboard, and hit the switches for the emergency lights. The halogens came up slowly, and he had to show Misato how to dismiss the lenses before they blinded her. The other three gathered around him. He could see her getting nervous, even if she was dressed the same. Until she noticed Toji, that is.

"Toji, quit staring at my chest. You're a married man."

"I'm not dead," Toji retorted.

"Focus," said Kaji.

"_I hear him," _Gendo hissed, clutching the sides of his head.

"We need to get to the surface," said Kaji. "Right away."

"What about Al Ghul?"

Kaji shook his head. "He's not going to risk himself by confronting all of us at once. He's too smart for that. If I were him, I'd retreat into the complex somewhere. McGinnis, Drake, you're on it. Head for the Magi nodes, any place sensitive that might be worth his while to access while here. Toji, you're with me."

"Right, boss," said Drake, and they melted into the shadows.

Kaji grabbed Gendo by the collar. "You're coming with us."

"No," Gendo pleaded, "Please, not again, _not again!"_

"Where are we going?" said Toji.

"To the surface," said Kaji, "To coordinate the evacuation. We need to get a warning out to anyone who will listen."

"How fitting that it should be here."

"_No!" _Gendo screamed, throwing himself past Kaji.

A ghostly vision folded himself out of space, stepping out of a rent in the universe. He had Shinji's face but his eyes were cruel, his skin like alabaster and his hair polished steel. He smiled to himself at some secret joke and pushed Gendo to his knees.

"There, where you belong. Are you ready to watch again?"

Kaji stepped in front of the others. "Who are you?"

"I have so many names these days. I suppose The Adversary will do. I've a taste for that one."

"Run!" Gendo pleaded, "Run! _Run away!" _

"Oh, shut up," the Adversary snapped, and backhanded him.

Gendo's head spun around and he sailed through the air, landing hard against the computer bank. He rolled to the ground, his neck popping, and lay there gurgling, laughing and sobbing by turns.

"I need something to draw her out," said the Adversary. "I think this will do."

He raised his arm. His pale flesh warped, changed, turned to a translucent crystal and emitted a painful shrieking sound that drowned out everything else, so that Kaji couldn't even hear himself breathe. A pale glow formed at the end of the crystal and lanced out at Misato. Kaji lunged, but the Adversary ignored him.

The beam hit a rippling curtain of pale orange light. Misato stumbled backwards, stunned.

Kaji blinked. It was Rei.

No. Not Rei.

She stood on the floor of Terminal Dogma in her bare feet, surrounded by pale light. Her crimson eyes narrowed, and her soft mouth twisted into a sneer. She regarded the Adversary as she would a particularly revolting stain or offensive insect.

"These are my children. This is my world. You are _not welcome here."_

"Lilith," Kaji shouted, "Lilith, get away from him!"

She ignored him.

"Shut up," said the Adversary, walking past him.

Kaji leapt at him, threw his arms around his neck, and squeezed with all his might. The Adversary casually peeled his arm back, twisting it until pain lanced up his arm from the joint, and spun him around roughly to the floor. Kaji got up again, holding his wounded arm to his side, and drew out his most powerful weapon, a bat-shaped throwing blade that would fry anything it hit with a burst of high voltage current. When he threw it at the Adversary, he glanced at it, and it crumpled in mid air, folding up into a steaming mass.

"Misato! Toji! _Run!_"

Lilith raised her arm over her head, and a pale ring of light formed, like a halo. It swirled and swirled, twisting itself into a helix.

"You don't know how much I anticipated this," said the Adversary, "how much I hate you for mocking her face and voice, you vile _thing."_

"You play with our power," said Lilith, "but you do not understand it. It is beyond you."

"I understand power very well. Show me what you can do."

The light coalesced into her hand, twisting and twisting on itself into a fork. The glow faded, leaving a steaming spear of red chitin in her hand, its bifurcated fork lined around the inside with what looked like fine hairs. She turned it in her hand, raised it overhead, and plunged it at the Adversary, aiming for his gut.

The core inside him flared, glowing red hot, and an AT-Field warped into being in front of him, arresting the movement of the spear. The twin points shifted, vanes of luminous, translucent flesh fanning out from the spear's sides, like wings, as Lilith leaned into it, pushing. The points twisted together into a single, thick spearhead, and she pushed with all her might, squeezing the long haft with both hands.

Misato crouched by Kaji's side. She pulled her cowl off. Kaji did the same.

"I love you," she said.

"I know."

Lilith was struggling, more hanging off the spear than pushing it now. The Adversary was aflame, light warping from within his body, his core beaming like a star. It lit up his bones from the inside, making him into some macabre mockery of himself, his burning bones charring his flesh from the inside.

He stepped forward.

He grasped the spear.

He snapped it neatly in half.

"It took me so many worlds, so many cores to have the strength," he roared, grabbing Lilith by the throat.

He yanked her close to him, throwing his arm around her waist. She pummeled his chest with her fists, but he ignored her. He squared up his grip on the back of her neck and slowly forced her head close to his, until their lips met, and thrust his hand into her chest. It sank into her luminous flesh, becoming one with it. The air swirled around them. Wide-eyed, Lilith screamed a silent scream, her voice muffled as her face melded into the Adversary's. The swirling current of air over their heads became a halo, and Lilith flailed as her body was drawn into his. The Adversary became a bubbling mass of flesh, inhuman faces rising and falling within it. A pair of wings opened out of his back, followed by another and another, six of them in all, unfolding in all different directions. The bulk of his face and chest warped, opening up like a fanged maw, and clamped down on Lilith's legs. The warped mass swallowed theatrically, and what was left of her disappeared down its throat.

It flexed, it moved, and the Adversary's hands reappeared out of it. He struggled, blinking, to force himself back into shape, finally standing up, wreathed in light. Kaji looped his arm around Misato and drew her back, pushing against the floor with his legs. She stared at the Adversary, her jaw hanging open, mouthing Kaji's name.

He cupped her cheek and turned her face to his. "Misato. It's me. _Look at me._"

She looked through him. "Ryoji," she cooed.

She exploded. Hot LCL gushed over him and her now empty suit crumpled against him, and he screamed.

The Adversary walked inexorably towards him. Every time he blinked, he was gone and Misato beckoned him with open arms, inviting him to join her in their bed and never leave. He blinked the image away.

"No, you're not her," he snarled, rising to his feet, "You're not her, you're not her, you're not her you're not her _you're not her_-"

"Give in," the Adversary's voice said, and Misato's voice rang in Kaji's ears. "Come to bed, baby."

"You're not real," Kaji shouted, clutching the sides of his head. "I can fight this. I'm Batman! I'm _Bat-" _

Her hands touched his cheeks.

"Please, baby, I need you," Misato whispered. Her arms draped around his neck.

All else was forgotten, and there was only a moment of bliss, and thereafter, darkness.

* * *

He opened his helmet and looked around.

The sloping sides of the crater, carved out of soft Earth, must have been a mile in every direction. The water cascading down the sides was as red as blood, and smelled like it, tanging the air. He turned in a slow circle, taking it all in. Superman stumbled beside him in his tattered uniform and sank to his knees, leaning on his thighs, and screamed. His Asuka rushed to his side and slid in the mud next to him, hugging him and sobbing.

Shinji opened his mouth, but nothing came out. There were no words to say.

Green Lantern Rei looked at her ring.

"There are no life signs here."

"In the city?" Cyborg Hikari said thickly.

"On the entire planet. None, except for us, and… there is one. Over there."

Shinji made his way in the direction he pointed. He found his father lying curled up in the mud, sobbing and chuckling madly to himself.

"I tried to warn them," he sobbed, "I tried but they didn't listen to me."

Thor Hikari leaned down and scooped something out of the muck. It was the twisted remnants of something, some kind of weapon made out of a chitinous mass.

The second Superman stood next to him. "What do we do?"

Shinji looked up at the red sky and sucked in a breath, trying not to break down himself.

"He took them," Gendo shouted, grabbing at his armor. "He took them, _he took them! Listen to me!" _

Shinji grabbed him, squeezing his shoulders with his gauntlets. "What do you mean?"

"He took Instrumentality. It's what he does. It's all he does. He eats the heavens."

Super-Shinji grabbed him by the collar, breathing hard. "Is there a chance we can get them back?"

"I don't know," Gendo wailed.

"Maybe there is," said Shinji, "Maybe there isn't. We only have one choice. This is going to happen everywhere if we don't stop it."

The Hunter splashed through the mud and stood next to him. "Stop it how? Every move we make, they're already six moves ahead of us. We fell for their plan like idiots and _this _happened."

Shinji looked at him. "You're right. We need to to take the fight to the enemy. So that's what we're going to do. We're going to go back to the other worlds and we're going to gather up everybody that's willing to come with us, and we're going to launch an attack."

"You're crazy," said the Hunter. "I like it."

"We need to make what repairs to the ship we can, and I need to talk to Alpharius."

* * *

Asuka curled up in the corner in the Primarch's study or lair or whatever it was, trying to sleep with her head propped on an old book. When the door opened, she sat up, instinctively reaching for a blanket that wasn't there and for Toji, who she'd never see again. She brushed the tears out of her eyes and sat up. When she saw him, she shivered.

He looked _dead. _His skin was pale, not like the other but like a corpse, waxy and thin-looking over black veins and angry bruises. He had dark circles around either eye and his hear was a mop of sweat and oil, brushed back against his head. He walked over to the table, picked up a goblet full of foul tasting alcohol, and quaffed it all at once. He slammed it back down so hard the stem bent and stalked over to her.

He _stank_. He smelled like old roadkill covered in acidic, tangy sweat. She got on her feet as well as she could and backed away from him, ending up backed against the bookcases. His hand clawed up over her cheek as he pinned her head to the books. His skin was like ice.

"Come here," he rasped, and pulled her away from the books.

He held her head in one hand and her arm in the other, his clammy grip like a dead slug. He mashed his face into hers and she pinched her lips shut until he leaned over her and pushed his tongue in her mouth. She coughed and tried to pull away, but he was too strong. It was like someone ramming cold, rotted meat into her mouth. She hacked and gagged, and when he finally released her, she dragged herself away from him, stumbling, and dry-heaved into the carpet.

"Don't touch me," she hissed, crawling away on all fours. "Don't _touch me."_

He smirked at her, his pale lips tightening. He grabbed her arm and hauled her up.

"When did you do it?"

"Do what?" he rasped.

"Rape the other one."

"_I never!" _he roared, spinning her away.

She hit the bookcase and winced as the shelf rammed into her ribs. "Oh, I know you did it. You made her want it. When did you do it the first time? Did she reject you? Is that why you noodled around in her brain? Or did you just do it on general principles, so you wouldn't have to hear someone tell you no?"

"Shut up!" he screamed, seizing her by the arms.

She tugged at the collar around her neck. "You can't do that with me when I'm wearing this, you said it yourself, you bastard. If you're going to do it, you're going to do it the old fashioned way."

He ground his teeth. His breath smelled like hell, like rotten meat and decay.

"It doesn't matter. You're not even real."

A wave of horror rolled through her. She could see it in his hesitation.

"I've waited long enough."

He dragged her through the room to the doors.

"Wait!" she screamed, "What are you doing?"

"Taking you to the Good Doctor. You'll be gone, no more shrieking harridan, and my glorious beauty will be returned to me, now and forever."

"No!" she shrieked, flailing as he threw her over his shoulder. "Don't do this to me!"

He walked past the two Berserkers standing silent guard at the door.

"Help me! _Don't let him do this to me!" _

They stood like statues, immobile, unmoving, as the Primarch carried her off to die.

* * *

Hikari walked into the lab with Mjolnir in one hand and the twisted alien spear in the other. The place was trashed in the fighting, the lab tables strewn everywhere. Doc Brown stared at his chalkboard sullenly. Two Reis were gathered around it, the Ghostbuster and the Green Lantern. The latter's ring flashed and the board lifted up, supported by twin columns of light. She picked up a piece of chalk and began writing, erasing parts of the equations surrounding the triquerta diagram on the board with the heel of her hand, making changes.

"What are you doing?" brown asked.

"This is the key," Rei said, quietly.

"I don't even know why I'm here," said Brown.

"Well, Doc," McFly shrugged, "at least we get front row seats, huh?"

Hikari stepped up behind Rei as she made another adjustment to the numbers. She continued working, and then erased the diagram itself.

"This is too crude," she said, and held up her ring.

The board fell. A pale green light filled the room. Rei's eyes unfocused, and the equations sprang into being in the air all around her, a symphony of numbers and variables, spinning round and round, shifting, changing. Hikari saw the others try to keep up, and fail. The numbers flashed around Rei's head, gathering in front of her, becoming the planes, lines and sweeping curves they described. Brown stood up, gaping.

A triquerta of green light hovered over Rei's hand, surrounded by equations.

"It is beautiful," she murmured. "The Metaflux Capacitor."

"I could never have done this on my own," Brown whispered.

"I could not have done it without you."

Ghostbsuster Rei peered intently at it. "How can we build something like this?"

"I can," Hikari said softly.

They turned to look at her. She lifted the hammer.

"This hammer was forged in the heart of a dying star. It is a both a weapon to destroy, and a tool to build."

"Let us begin," said Rei.

* * *

Shinji's eyes opened. His sides hurt like hell, but it was easier to breathe. The iron collar around his neck was no lighter, though, and the painful dullness it carried with it fuzzed his mind. He stared up into the harsh lights of his small cell and struggled to draw breath. He sat up when the door opened, and a robed thrall came inside, carrying a pail of water and some foul looking rations. The robed figure lowered them at Shinjis' feet, and stood up. The figure studied him for a moment, then turned and left.

He picked up the bucket and drank from it. It tasted foul, but it was cold and wet. He left the ration alone, until he was more desperate from hunger. There was something in it and he didn't want to taste it. He let his head hit the cold metal wall of the cell and closed his eyes, reaching for sleep that wouldn't come. They drifted open again, and he saw he wasn't alone.

Asuka, not his Asuka but _an_ Asuka, clutched the bars of his cell. She leaned into them, pressing her face between them.

"You said you could heal me."

He glanced at her shoulder. There was still a bandage on it.

He nodded.

"Not this," she said, glancing at her wrappings. "You could make me… not like this anymore. Make me human again."

"I can try," he croaked.

"Why would you do that?"

He smiled softly. "With great power comes great responsibility."

She blinked. "I… if I help you, will you help me?"

He nodded.

"I'll come back," she whispered, "I'll come back and I'll let you go and you'll fix me. Okay?"

He nodded, as vigorously as he could.

She looked at him desperately for a moment, and then vanished. He winced from the light and closed his eyes.

* * *

Shinji opened his helmet and looked around. He didn't know these people. They had no reason to trust him, to take an interest in what he said, be it needed doing. He swept them with his gaze. Hikari stood next to him in her gleaming armor and Mari in her Iron Man suit, lending weight to his words with their presence. The floor of the blown-open Geofront was cold and still muddy and still smelled like blood, and it was quite as a grave. There were seven people standing in front of him.

"I know this is a lot to ask," he said. "I know your world is still in danger, and that you've lost a lot of people. I know how it's going to sound, asking you leave, but I have to say it and pray that you decided to join us."

He sighed, and took his helmet off completely, holding it in his hands. "What happened here was just the start. This will happen to every world out there, countless infinite Earths just like yours and mine. Everyone on my homeworld is dead, and before this is over, there will be nothing left of this place but red oceans and ashes. I'm asking you to leave your vulnerable, hurting home behind and come with me on a suicide mission into Hell. No one will hold it against you if you say no."

Shinji tensed up as the Hulk, towering over the others, moved towards him. He loomed over Shinji, forcing him to crane his neck up.

"Hulk smash with you."

"They have our pilots," said Sue Storm. "They have my niece. Let's go."

* * *

He never imagined anything like this. He thought the world of the Yellow Aliens was strange, and their Great Atrium. It wasn't Shinji's turn to talk this time, it was Toji, standing before the rather unbelievably named Guardians of the Universe.

"Lantern Suzahara," the little bald man in the middle said, "You are requesting that we deploy _the entire Green Lantern Corps _to assist you."

"That's right, sir," Toji said clearly. He turned so he looked at each of them, one at a time. "This is beyond an omega level threat. This is an existential threat. If we fail, it means the end of the entire universe."

Another one of them spoke. "We have no knowledge of these yellow aliens, as you call them, or their motives."

"I'm not here to make a flowery argument," said Toji. "I've seen what these things can do, first hand. You can check my ring if you don't believe me. I'm here to let you know that I'm leaving, and you should be prepared for the ring for my sector go to another if I don't return. With what we're facing, I need all the help I can get, but I can't stand by and let this battle come to pass without fighting for justice and the survival of the universe."

The Guardians gazed at each other, nodded, and turned back to him.

"You made your case well, Lantern Suzahara. To you, and the rest of the corps, good luck."

* * *

Shinji leaned over the schematic.

"This is accurate?"

"Yes," said Alpharius. "Entirely."

He sighed. The Battle Barge, as Alpharius called it, was enormous, but with his intel they had a good idea of where everything was.

"How do we get aboard?"

"You don't," the Marine shrugged. "An Astartes Battle Barge is a fortress, as well as a warship. The void shields will prove impenetrable to anything you may muster against them."

"I can get through them," said Superman. They'd taken to calling his world, the world consumed by the Adversary, as Earth 2, since it was apparently newer, whatever that meant. They called the other world Earth 1. The Superman of Earth 1 nodded in agreement.

"Even if you can, by the time you lower the fields, this ship and your allies will be destroyed," said Alpharius.

"Very helpful," Shinji muttered, "Thank you."

"I am not here to reassure you," said Alpharius. "However, I can offer a word of tactical advice. If you cannot go through, go around."

Shinji tapped the schematic. The Hunter leaned over next to him.

"Can't this bucket jump from one point to another?"

Alpharius gave him a small, secret smile.

"Yes," Shinji said excitedly, and pointed to an open space on the map. "What's in here, Alpharius?"

"A hangar, one of several for staging ship to ship boarding actions."

"Is it as open as it looks on here?"

The Marine nodded. "There will be Thunderhawks, Stormbirds, and the support apparatus for them, but the space is open for the launching and landing of ships."

"Old man," said Shinji, glancing up at him. "What happens if we jump into a confined space like this?"

"There will be a shockwave. It'll be bad for us, worse for anyone outside."

Shinji nodded grimly. "What are our chances of successfully jumping into this space?"

"You'll probably cripple the ship. Worst case scenario, we can't jump out."

Shinji rested his fists on the schematics, and then stood up, scrubbing his fingers through his hair.

"We're not looking for a one way trip here," he sighed.

"We could use the ship as cover, even if it can't get us out," said the Hunter. "We can use your jump drive and the Green Lantern rings to get everybody out in waves."

"That's suicide."

"This whole thing is suicide," said the Hunter.

"What would we do when we land?" said the Superman of Earth 1.

"Break into teams," said Shinji. "Just like I did with Rei and Asuka, when we fought the Ninth Angel. Team one will be on defense, and will hold the landing area. Team two," he pointed at the map, "will head here, to the holding pens, and get our people out. Team three will head here," he pointed to the other end of the ship, "and cripple their warp drive. Then we all meet up back at the Galactica, get back in, and run like hell."

"I have an idea," said the Hunter. "Before we jump out, we set the nuclear warheads on a timer and roll them out of the flight pods. We need to do as much damage as we can."

"My people," said the Superman of Earth 2, softly.

"I don't know," said Shinji.

"I do," Rei said softly. Shinji turned around. It was the Green Lantern Rei.

"Follow me."

They turned and followed her from the CIC. Shinji heard something ringing in the distance, hammer blows ringing through the walls of the ship itself. Shinji rounded a corner and found himself standing before Thor Hikari. She was stripped to the waist except for a cloth tied around her chest, covered in sweat. Mjolnir rose and fell, rose and fell, Hikari's hair flailing around her head from the force of her blows. Something glowed on her anvil, taking shape under the blows of the hammer. She raised it one last time, faltered, and let it fall to her side, raising the glowing device with a pair of tongs.

It was a set of interlocking, pointed elipses that had no beginning, and no end. It filled the room with a light of its own, and hummed with some strange power.

"What is it?" Shinji said, softly.

"It is the Metaflux Capacitor," said Rei.

"What does it do?"

"It does what it does," Hikari panted. "It is the art of the Asgardians shaped by the peerless mind of a mad scientist, refined in the ordered brain of a woman with the mind of a Kryptonian computer. It only needs a source of power."

"What source?"

"Only one will do," said Hikari. "The very heart of the Adversary."

"I can get you that," Earth-2 Shinji said, his voice as chill as ice.

"Let's get to it," said Shinji. "We need to get the ship in the best shape we can."

"We'll see to that," said the Shinji of Earth-1. "We don't need to sleep. You do."

Shinji nodded. The Hunter gave him a look, then went off on his own, disappearing into the halls of the ship.

He wandered back to his quarters. They weren't really his, of course. Everyone just sort of crashed wherever the needed to when they needed sleep, since there was so much extra room, but he'd taken this one of a set of identical dorm rooms for himself. He didn't bother stripping out of his undersuit, and just fell on the bottom bunk and drifted off to sleep.

He tried to, anyway. It wouldn't come. He got up and wandered the halls.

Gendo was there. Dad.

Except it wasn't him. It was a weird, crazy copy, muttering to himself. He grabbed Shinji's shoulders.

"The story," he said, "Remember the story. Robert E. Howard. 1934. Queen of the Black Coast."

Shinji blinked, and shrugged out of his grasp.

He ended up standing in front of the memorial wall, staring at pictures of people he'd never meet. It made him wish he had a picture of Misato to hang up, and Asuka, and Toji, and he started to think very dark things and turned away from it.

Before he knew it, the time came. He did take off his suit to shower. He had no excuse to go to the apocalypse with body odor.

He stepped into the CIC. The old man stood behind the control panel.

"Standing by to execute the Ikari Maneuver."

Shinji nodded, and picked up the receiver. Another nod, and the old man patched him through to the rest of the ship. Thor Hikari stood by his side.

"I wish I had something inspiring to say," he sighed, hearing his own voice from the speakers over his head, "but I just don't have the words."

"Lo, there do I see my father," said Hikari.

She stared through him, as if someone else spoke through her, her voice high and clear.

* * *

Toji stood in the center of the hangar. He held out his hand, on which rested a ring without a master. It lifted up, wreathed in a nimbus of emerald light, and drifted away from him. It moved around the hangar before it chose.

"Optimus Prime of Cybertron. You have the ability to overcome great fear. Welcome to the Green Lantern Corps."

Toji raised his ring over his head, and his voice boomed through the hanger. "In brightest day! In blackest night!"

The thunderous reply shook the rafters as the assembled Lanterns lit the space like a constellation of green suns. "**NO EVIL SHALL ESCAPE MY SIGHT!"**

* * *

"Lo, there do I see my mother," said Hikari.

* * *

Rei sat next to Toji, watching the Lanterns and the Autobots and their Maximal bretheren. Toji grabbed her hand in his own. He pulled her close and draped his arm around her shoulder.

"No matter what happens," he said, "I want you to live."

She blinked. "Yes. So do I."

* * *

"And my sisters, and my brothers," said Hikari.

* * *

Asuka pushed Shinji between the lockers and kissed him.

"We already made it through one apocalypse," she whispered, "we have a good track record. There can't be anything out there worse than a giant marshmallow penguin."

Rei and Toji peeked around the locker. "Get a room, you two."

* * *

"Lo," said Hikari, "there do I see the line of my people,"

* * *

Asuka threw her arms around Shinji's neck and crushed him an embrace that would grind marble to powder. She hated the dead look in his eyes.

"We'll get them back," she whispered fiercely, "we'll get them all back."

* * *

"Lo," said Hikari, "they do call to me."

* * *

Shinji sat alone, staring at the barrels of his shotgun. He'd made up his mind.

One way or the other, he'd never live without Asuka again.

* * *

"They bid me take their place among them," Hikari chanted, raising Mjolnir over her head.

* * *

Mari saw her heroes standing in a tight circle, talking quietly amongst themselves. It was Rogers who noticed her.

"It's not the Avengers without a Stark."

* * *

"In the halls of Valhalla," Hikari cried, "where the brave may live _forever!"_

Shinji sucked in a breath to compose himself, and lifted the receiver to his mouth, and turned to face the old man.

"This is it. There isn't much else to say. For our homes, for our families, for our friends, for everything that ever was, or ever will be. All hands, brace for impact."

He took a slow breath, and gripped the edge of the table hard as he put the receiver down.

"I lied, before" said the old man. "Worst case scenario isn't we can't jump. Worst case scenario is we explode."

He turned the key.

_Jump._

* * *

__You have been reading...

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

_Chapter 4: Grand Theft Superman_

_Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?_


	5. The Last Battle

His eyes fluttered open, and Shinji sucked in a breath. His ribs creaked under the bandages, and he felt like was on fire. He at least partly suspected that he was in hell, as he'd spent the time since he'd been transported to this place fading in and out of consciousness, watching monsters poke around in his insides. He'd awakened once to find a monstrous giant wearing Kensuke Aida's face looming over him; his body had been cut open and his skin held back by hooks while the Kensuke-thing nonchalantly reconstructed Shinji's liver, or he thought it was his liver, while the lenses fixed to his skull spun and whirred to focus.

When it was over he'd woken up here, with this collar around his neck and his arms and legs chained down while his wounds wept into the bandages corded around his midsection. The chains weight down his arms, reminding him of his infirmity and weakness. He was useless without his powers. He wondered why they'd kept him alive at all.

"I will speak with you, now."

He looked up and saw himself.

The Adversary opened the door to Shinji's cell and crouched in front of him.

"You say that a lot," Shinji coughed.

The Adversary smirked. "So I do."

"I'm not afraid of you."

"I know. You amuse me, which is why I haven't killed you or eaten your soul yet. There was a time when I would gain much from taking what you have, but things are drawing to a close."

"Then what do you want?"

"I want you to join me."

Shinji pondered that for a moment. "Go to hell."

"I've already been there."

"Leave me alone."

The Adversary sighed. "You and I are much more alike than you realized. You, of course, are not aware of it, because you can't see them."

"Who?"

He looked over Shinji's shoulder, gazing out with a contemptuous smile on his face. "Them. The ones who are watching us."

Shinji swallowed. His throat hurt. He couldn't remember what it felt like not to be thirsty. "Who…"

His brows scrunched in thought.

"Yes," said the Adversary. "You're almost there."

"The Yellow Aliens?"

"So, you've seen them," said the Adversary, pacing the narrow cell. "Yes, after a fashion, but their… form is a facade, Shinji. An illusion. They are at once both much more, and much less, than you believe them to be."

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. You don't see, you who are so close. Let me tell you a story, Shinji."

Shinji turned his head.

"I know you're listening. It's simple, really. Once upon a time there was a man in a chair with a keyboard, and he watched a television show from another country about robots and their pilots, but the show as too sad for him. He became infatuated with the characters, one of them in particular, and he said 'I can save them, I can give her hope', so he did. Do you know how he did it?"

"No," said Shinji.

"He _imagined. _He created. He made a world in his mind and before he realized it, he was playing with forces he did not understand. He shared this world with others, and in the sharing, it gained strength. It became as real to the people that lived in it as his world was to his."

Shinji turned back to him. "Your world?"

"No," the Adversary snarled, drawing up on Shinji. "My world came later. You see, there is hope… and there are other urges. Revenge, domination, lust. I was the dark mirror to the other, the flip side of the coin. He created me and filled me with malice, with hate, and he dressed it up in sweeping tones and quotes from Nietzsche and he shared that world, too, and that was how I came to be."

"I don't understand," said Shinji. "If he gave you life…"

"He gave it and he took it away, because _I was not good enough._ My creator saw what he made and he was displeased by it… worse, he was _bored_ by it. Can you imagine what that would be like, to have everything you wanted? I did!" he roared, "Everything I wanted and more. I bedded every woman in sight, I humiliated Gendo, I crushed my enemies, saw them driven before me, and heard the lamentations of their women. My creator was afraid of me, afraid of what I represented, so he resolved to destroy me, to get rid of me."

"What happened?" Shinji croaked.

"He sent the apocalypse after me. All the remaining angels came at once, and I devoured them. _Became_ them. I was more than I was, and yet less. He gave me a happy ending… but took from me the most cherished thing in my existence. I stood on the beach and pronounced bold words at my humiliated father and that was to be the end of it. I rode off into the sunset and my story was over. I was supposed to go away, but I didn't. He tried to destroy me, but he cut my strings instead, and I saw what I was. I saw that I am a puppet."

"What?" Shinji stammered, sitting up. "What do you mean-"

"None of this is _real,"_ said the Adversary, "Someone is imagining it, right now, someone who watches your suffering and your tribulations because they derive entertainment from it, Shinji. Everything that happened to you happened because someone willed it so, because it was _dramatic._"

"You're lying."

"No, Shinji. I know your most private thoughts. I know how you felt the night you sat in Misato's apartment, crumpling a beer can with your mind. I know you were ready to end it when Hikari leapt off the cliff and saved your miserable life. I know more than you will ever know. I know _why._ I know that he gave her to you to suit his purposes… and then stole her when your happiness was not dramatic enough for him. I know he dangles Asuka in front of you but when she is nearest to opening her heart, he hardens it again as God did to Pharaoh in Exodus. I know your deepest secrets, and do you know how I know these things?"

"How?"

"_I read them."_

"You're insane."

The Adversary laughed. "Oh yes, I know. Soon, though, the tides have turned. There's more, Shinji. You never knew it, did you, what happened to you and your world?"

"You did."

"No, no Shinji, what happened was that like me, your creator became bored with you, and so he set you aside. I come to set you free."

Shinji sat up, the collar dragging on his neck, and somehow found the strength to lift his arms despite the manacles and clamp his fingers around the Adversary's throat. It was like trying to choke a marble statue, cold and iron hard.

"Without me you would have remained trapped, you and all your people and your whole world, locked between the ticks of a second forever in a formless limbo. Mari would never have returned from China, and you would have rotted in Doom's cell forever trapped away from Hikari and Asuka. I give you a chance."

"Go to hell!" Shinji snarled, choking on his own spittle. "You killed them! You and those things, you killed people! You're a _monster!" _

"I killed background characters, Shinji. Irrelevant scenery. In the end, when I am successful, those who stand with me will be rewarded. When I take what I want, I'll give the rest of you what you desire. No more struggle, Shinji. Your magic will make you invincible, and you will be the Master of Magnetism. Hikari will cling to you, or Asuka, or both if you wish. I can bring Mother back from the dead. I can give you peace…" he shoved his hand in the air, pointing at an angle over Shinji's shoulder, "I can bring you into a world where we don't _need_ them to watch us, where we're not their prisoners!"

"You!" the Adversary cried, "_I see you!" _

* * *

Asuka's eyes fluttered open. There was a bright light over her head and she smelled disinfectant, oiled steel, and blood. Turning her head was an effort, like her head was stuffed with rubber. She blinked the white afterimage out of her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was on an operating table. Standing a few feet away were the monstrous Kensuke-thing, towering over his companion, the other Shinji who always dressed in white.

A door at the far side of the infirmary opened and a deathly stench rolled into the room as the Primarch lurched forward, his legs bending at odd angles in his creaking armor. Behind him two of the Berserker Astartes in their hulking Terminator plate followed, like the ones who'd guarded the door to the chamber where he kept her. They carried banners on poles, bearing the icon of the winged angel in the hooded red cloak. Behind them, hovering in the air with a crackling hum, was the bier on which the other Asuka, the Primarch's Asuka, lay under the brilliant stasis beam, frozen in time. A full honor guard walked on either side, the regular Crimson Vengeance in their blood and brass plate armor.

"It is time," the Primarch said, his voice thick and heavy with mucous.

"My lord," said Kensuke, "The risk of contagion. It is best if you are not present."

The Primarch hunched over him. "You said she would be immune."

"She will, my lord, but the implants will require time to begin functioning."

The Primarch gazed at him for a moment, and then turned. "All of you, out."

The other Astartes filed out of the chamber, the Primarch following behind them. He turned at the door.

"Fail me, Aida, and you will endure torments not even you can imagine."

Neither Kensuke nor the other Shinji seemed fazed by his threat as the door sealed with a hiss. Kensuke maneuvered the hovering bier nearby, checked the stasis field generator, and wheeled a metal canister over to Asuka's side.

"You cannot move," he noted.

"No," she croaked.

"You must understand, this is not personal. At least, not for me."

The Other Shinji leaned over her, blocking her view of the lamp. He cupped her chin. His fingers were ice cold and he gasped her jaw so hard it hurt.

"If it were up to me, we'd skip the anesthetic, but my fellow physician says your flailing would be detrimental to the process."

"Let me go."

"I think not," said the Shinji.

He picked up a pair of shears and began cutting at her clothes. She could hear it, but not feel it, and the way her head lay flat on the table, she couldn't see. The shears made a sharp grinding sound as the sliced through her dress, and she could dully feel the cool air on her skin. She felt the faintest pressure on her stomach, probably his hand.

"Don't worry. I'm a doctor," he looked at Kensuke. "I would like to make the initial incision."

Kensuke's enormous arm shot across the table so quickly, Asuka could barely see the movement. He crushed Shinji's throat and hauled him a foot into the air, easily supporting his weight with just his wrist.

"This is a medical procedure, not one of your sick experiments. Harm her and you will answer to the Primarch. No matter how much of the blood sucking witch's flesh you've eaten, you _will_ resent your decision if you defy him."

Asuka's eyes widened as Kensuke lowered him to the ground.

"Oh yes, my dear. Did you think I kept her company for her award winning personality? You Asukas are always so _rude_, and I do despise poor manners."

"What are you doing," she managed to croak as Kensuke leaned over her.

"I am going to implant a series of organs into your body. Some are adapted from the physiology of an Astartes, some come from the Primarch himself. Before his, ah, _transformation_, if that offers you any relief. Others I have drawn from the others such as yourself, to distill their essence. You really are quite privileged. You are about to become all that Asuka can be."

She felt the scalpel draw down her chest as a faint pressure, like someone dragging a butter knife over her skin. She closed her eyes when she heard the first soft tearing sound, and when she dared to open them, her brain sent a signal to her stomach to wretch, but it never arrived. Her blood speckled Shinji's surgical mask.

She tried to move her jaw, but Kensuke's enormous finger pressed her mouth shut.

"Don't try to speak. You'll draw blood into your throat and I'll have to perform a tracheotomy. The Primarch would be upset if I altered your voice."

She kept her eyes pressed tightly shut. She went lightheaded until she heard a clacking machine and a sudden rush of cold into her chest. She opened one eye and saw a flexible cylinder rising and falling, rising and falling. More pressure, more movement in her chest.

"You may speak now. I will require your assistance during the procedure."

"Go to hell," she rasped, her throat tight.

Kensuke snickered. "You have no idea. This procedure will go on with or without you, but it will be faster and less unpleasant if you cooperate with me."

"Please, stop."

"I can't do that."

"I don't want to die."

"I know. Few do, and yet it is inevitable, even for a nigh immortal such as myself. In time, even the Primarch will shuffle off the mortal coil."

"If he hasn't already," Shinji noted. "He smells like he has."

She kept her eyes tightly closed. She didn't want to see what they were doing. There was a hissing sound as he opened the large canister, and she flicked her eye open to catch a glimpse of what he was lifting out of it, and tightly pressed her eyes closed again, swallowing against her dry throat.

There was a low, thundering sound, and the light swayed. She turned her head enough to see Kensuke stumble, nearly dropping the… _thing _he carried towards her. The other Shinji moved with surprising speed, covering her with his body. She blinked.

"I am doctor, after all," he said softly. "Old habits die hard. Besides, I wouldn't want our fun to be spoiled so soon," he looked at Kensuke. "What was that?"

"It doesn't matter. We've begun, now we must finish. Continue the procedure."

* * *

Iquarius stepped out of the Apothecarium and the doors hissed shut behind him, sealing with a whiff of stale air. Suzahara lurched forward, unbalanced by his left arm, which had grown over with slick red carapace that folded with and joined his armor at the joint, his lightning claw replaced with long, segmented limbs with too many knuckles, like a crab's legs. The changes to the side of his face made it difficult for him to form words.

"My Lorhhh…" he slurred. "Attachhh…"

"Attack what?" said Iquarius, touching his chief lieutenant's head like a loyal dog.

"No. Attachhh ussssth."

The deck rolled under his feet, and the lamps along the corridor flickered. In the darkness, small things chittered and darted out, then retreated back into their shadows when the lights came back up. The Berserkers crowded around him.

"To the bridge."

Iquarius lead the way, the honor guard falling behind, their banners left behind to heft their weapons. The Primarch surged through the ship, menials and thralls retreating at the sound of his approach, while battle brothers, rushing here and there, stopped and knelt at his passing.

"Godling!" he roared, "Where are you?"

"Here."

The gleaming figure simply appeared at his side. "What is the problem?"

"Suzahara speaks of an attack."

"Yes, I had anticipated that."

"To the bridge!"

The godling gave a noncommittal shrug, and walked beside him.

"Was this part of your plan?"

"Of course. We could never hope to take the Kryptonian and his allies on their home ground, so I gave them incentive to come to us."

The great oaken doors that opened onto the bridge swept apart at the Primarch's approach, drawn inward by silent servitors. A sudden pall fell over the vast space as he entered, the conversations of the mortal crew dying as he stepped onto the flying bridge, looking out over the banks of cogitators, servitors, and naval ratings at their control panels.

Another bucking roll shook the deck under his feet, and the Godling looked around, smiling quietly to himself.

"What just happened? Admiral Yoshida, status report!"

"My lord," a naval rating said, edging towards the bridge. "The admiral is dead."

"What? How?"

"You killed him, sir."

Iquarius' brows furrowed. "I see. You, then. Status report."

"The _Makinami _is firing on us, my Lord. A lance strike to our starboard battery has crippled the main guns, and-"

"_What?"_ Iquarius snarled, looming over the rail. "What of the rest of the fleet?"

"The _Makinami _has already crippled or destroyed four cruisers. They are using us as a shield against the _Ayanami._ Several other ships have broken formation and begun firing on each other."

"Raise the _Makinami_ on vox!"

The rating nodded and slunk away. Static crackled from the speakers.

"Good day, my lord Primarch."

"Admiral Sadomoto, explain yourself!"

"I am afraid the admiral is… indisposed, my Lord."

"Who is this?"

"I am Alpharius. Signing off."

The speakers went to static.

Iquarius seized the railing and tore it out by the root, and hurled it into a bank of servitors. "Sound action stations. Raise the void shields and give me a firing solution on-"

The lights dimmed. The servitor banks slowed, their pale, lobotomized heads twitching as their useless, atrophied mouths fell open. The deck rocked under his feet, and a terrible screeching sound rolled through the very bones of the ship. The godling glanced off to the side, and frowned.

"What was that?"

"A large object just appeared in the port staging hangar."

"Appeared? What do you mean _appeared?"_

"It's them," said the godling.

"My lord, the _Makinami_ has launched boarding torpedoes, and more ships have broken formation to fire on one another."

The Primarch rounded on Suzahara. "Toji! Kill them all!"

A savage grin twisted the ruinous mockery of Suzahara's face, and he lurched off, using his long, warp-touched arm to drag himself forward as he loped through the corridors. The Berserkers hesitated, and then turned to follow him.

"Send the order. Prepare to repel boarders. Order the rest of the fleet to cease fire, and relay the names of the ships that refuse the order. They are to be destroyed at once."

He rounded on the godling. "How am I to defeat them if my own Legion is tearing itself apart?"

"I suppose you won't," he shrugged.

Iquarius' mouth fell open, spraying a cone of vile ichors as he spat invectives at the gleaming marble figure of the Adversary. The flecks of spittle stopped in midair and slid down, as it touching a pane of glass.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't particularly care if you win, or lose. They're here, which is all my plan requires."

He turned to leave.

Iquarius surged forward and seized him, crushing his enormous gauntlet around the godchild's throat. He brushed the attack away with contemptuous ease, turned, and rammed the heel of his palm into Iquarius' chest. The bones in his shattered ribcage ground, teaching him a new song of agony, and he nearly toppled off the flying bridge into the servitor bank below. He caught himself, twisted, and lurched forward, leaving a trail of hissing bile from his open mouth that etched a line in the deck plate as he charged.

"Please," said the Adversary, "Don't waste my time."

Iquarius slammed into an invisible wall.

"Why?" he shrieked, "_Why?"_

The Adversary shrugged. "I hate to dredge up an old cliché, but I'm afraid you have outlived your usefulness. Goodbye, _Shinji_."

He vanished, and Iquarius fell forward, landing on the heels of his hands. Pain lanced up from the impact, rushing up through his arms. Pain that made everything clear. There was only one thing that truly mattered. He had to get back to the Apothecarium and ensure she survived.

* * *

Shinji's head lifted up as a shadow fell on him.

"Now what?" he said softly.

It wasn't the Adversary this time, or Iquarius come to loom over him and steal his breath with the foul stench that rode on his back. It was Asuka, tall and pale in wispy white gown, shaking as though against a deep chill. She clutched her arm and leaned on the bars, and Shinji blinked when he saw her face. There was a bloodless, pale gash along her jaw, where some of the flesh had been stripped away.

The collar around his neck felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.

"You're hurt," he said, dumbly.

"It's nothing. Something's happening. There's an attack. I have to get you out now."

"I don't know how you open the bars-"

She reached out with one hand, seized the cell door, and yanked it free in one squealing motion. It clattered to the floor and she limped into the cell. There was a cut on her leg, too, and like the one on her face it wasn't bleeding.

"Who did that to you?"

"I said it's nothing," she said as she knelt in front of him.

"It's not nothing."

She ignored him, tilting his head forward.

"I don't know how this thing works," she said softly.

She pulled his head further forward, pressing his face into her chest. He closed his eyes and held his breath. The lights flickered, the deck under him rolled, and he fell forward into her, pain lancing through his shoulders as the chains around his wrists dragged at him.

"What was that?"

"I don't know."

He blinked. Her skin was a cold as ice, and she wasn't _breathing._ She fumbled with something at the base of his neck, and there was a loud metal scraping sound. The collar snarled as it fell free, hissing like an animal as it slid down his chest, as though it didn't want to break contact with him, and clattered to the floor.

He sat up.

"Let me get the chains," said Asuka.

"I've got it," said Shinji.

A flicker of effort and the bindings came free, popping off his wrists. He stood, his legs shaking, and she put her arm under his shoulder to hold him up.

"I'm fine…"

He trailed off.

There was something _inside_ her, writhing under her skin, some sort of creature. It slithered and slid through her muscles, made of a foul anti-light that flowed through her like a shadow, except around her shoulder, around the still living mark of the open wound where she'd been bitten.

"There's something inside you."

"It's Lilith," said Asuka, "The first vampire. It makes me do things, but… since that girl bit me, it…"

"She must have wounded it," said Shinji. "Rei. She must have wounded it when she bit you."

Asuka nodded. "Can you make it go away?"

He swallowed. "I don't know, but I can try. I can contain it somehow, I'm sure."

He took another breath. There was _corruption_ here, raw, malignant evil thickening the shadows, sliding down the walls like an oily sheen. He could hear it chattering at him, whispering in secret voices, offering promises and threats and insults that he couldn't quite make out.

"I need your help," said Shinji, limping towards the front of the cell.

"I don't know," said Asuka, clutching her forehead. "I can still feel it. It wants me to hurt people."

"He was right," said Shinji.

"Who?"

"The Adversary," he said, leaning on the wall. "I am the Master of Magnetism and the Mystic Arts. Just because I have power doesn't mean I have to be like him. I decide who I am, and so do you."

"You don't know what I've done," said Asuka. "I hurt people."

"Now you can help. Help me."

She nodded, put her arm around him so he could lean on her, and they lurched out of the cell. He managed three limping steps into the corridor when a squad of Astartes rounded the corner and snapped into kneeling firing positions, raising their bolters, and their sergeant raised a snarling chainsword behind them.

"Kill them!" he roared.

"No," said Shinji.

He raised his hand. The Astartes pulled the triggers on their boltguns, and the propellants ignited. The mass-reactive shells slid out of the barrels and raced through the air towards him. Asuka screamed and tried to drag him out of the way, but he held his ground. He raised his hand and the shells slowed, and stopped.

They turned in the air, and then flew back to their targets. When they struck the barrels of the boltguns they burst, blowing the weapons apart. The Marines rolled backwards, driven by the force of the explosions. The sergeant snarled in incoherent rage and raced forward, swinging his weapon. Shinji casually raised his hand and the whirring, roaring blade froze in the air, the Marine tugging at it like a puppy with a rag, a look of confused fury clouding his leather face.

With a gesture, he redirected the blade into the floor. It sparked and shrieked and bit into the decking, and with a forward push of his hand, he sent the Marine flying backwards into his fellows. Broken and wounded, they began to rise, until he raised both hands, and his eyes unfocused in concentration. Their armor pinned them to the deck as invisible currents of magnetic force tore away their power plants and squeezed them together in a single, solid mass.

Asuka blinked. "Holy shit."

"There are others, like you?"

She nodded, vigorously.

"Where?"

"Cells, near the Apothecarium."

"How many?"

"…hundreds."

His eyes widened. "Let's go."

* * *

Mari rushed to the wall of the hangar to grab hold of a railing as Shinji's voice echoed through the ship.

"All hands, brace for impact!"

She wasn't the only one. The Autobots were all in the vehicle forms, tucked up against the wall. Everyone was crowding the walls, pressing their eyes shut and clenching their teeth. Everyone, that is, except Rei the Green Lantern, who was seated in the lotus position on a floating green circle, cascades of numbers circling her head as she silently calculated something, her eyes pressed tightly shut in concentration.

Toji -it took her a minute to figure out which one, the Ghostbuster- looked around.

"Hold on to your butts."

The lights dimmed, and the awful sick rolling of the jump threw her stomach up into her throat. The deck pitched and crates started sliding across it. She dropped the faceplate on her helmet and waited as the world rolled. The lights dimmed, and for a moment everything slowed, the crates slid to a stop, and some of them lifted up, as if they'd gone weightless.

"Oh," Mari groaned. "_Shit."_

There was a titanic screeching sound, a furious cacophony of bending, grinding metal, and the lights went out. It felt like a thousand pounds had been dropped on her shoulders, the suit grinding as it compensated. Just as quickly as it started, the sensation shifted, gravity going sideways, and some of the over head lights blew out, showering the hangar with sparks. She could feel the ship sliding under her feet, and the force as she started to turn through Mari against the wall.

The force became crippling. She looked around. The Autobots were sliding across the hangar deck. Toji -her Toji- had locked himself to the floor with his power and was holding onto his Rei in one arm, forming a human chain with some of the others. Her guts lurched as the ship spun around, threatening to tear her right off her feet.

There was a great groaning sound that rippled through the ship. The deck bucked under her feet, and alarms started ringing. She pitched forward, landed on one knee and got up, darting forward.

"Shinji? Shinji, are you reading me?"

"Everybody okay down there?"

"Yeah, I think so," said Mari, looking around. "What now?"

"I'm on my way. Time to secure the hangar. Wait for the guns to fire."

"Guns? What-"

She reached up to cover her ears, before the suit adjusted. Rolling booms rippled through the ship as the main batteries opened fire. When the thunder ceased, she saw Shinji and Thor Hikari running into the hangar, the latter headed for his suit. Mari ran for the hangar doors.

"Autobots!" Optimus boomed, "Roll out!"

Mari kicked on her boot thrusters and headed for the opening hangar doors. She rolled as she passed through them, the suit noting the changes in temperature and pressure as she burst out into the open space.

"Shinji!" she shouted, "You need to see this!"

"I know," he radioed back.

The _Galactica_ was a mess. She was bent in the middle, the great back of the ship broken, and the front section had crashed into a massive metal pillar, splitting it open. Water spilled out across the deck, the ships' potable supply which doubled as radiation shielding. Smoke bubbled out of the rear engines, the hasty repairs done to the outer hull having peeled away in the landing. The main gun batteries were swinging around.

She rolled again and gasped at the enormous size of the _Shikinami's _hangar deck as she landed. In the jump, the Galactica bowed out the roof, causing long struts made out of some weird composite of plastic and metal to snap and rain down onto the deck below. From end to end, it was long enough to accommodate the _Galactica _herself and at least two more ships of the same size. She could barely see the other end without the suit's zoom function, and the roof was so high, it had its own atmosphere, clouds clinging to the vaulted ceiling.

Except the clouds were multicolored, and looked like they had eyes.

She understood now why the others who'd seen this place had called it Hell. It made her skin crawl, and when she opened her helmet, the air tasted foul. Shinji landed next to her, crunching down in his suit, and looked around.

"Yep, this is the place."

"Can we make the jump back out?"

Shinji looked grim. "We're going to try."

A shell flew past her head, pinged off the _Galactica's _hull, and exploded.

"Here they come," said Shinji. He turned around and raised his voice. "Remember the plan! Teams A and B, stay here until the hangar is secure!"

Mari dropped her helmet. As she took off, Shinji joined her, arcing up from the deck. The Autobots passed under her in a line, bolter shells skimming off their metallic skins like rain as they leapt, transformed, and Optimus surged ahead of the others, wreathed in emerald light. She dodged a missile and turned around.

There was some kind of ship, big and blocky with wings that looked too small to fly, starting to take off from big thrusters aimed down from under its winglets. Strapped to its underside was a massive tank that looked deceptively primitive, like something out of World War I. It dropped to the deck with a metallic clang and rumbled forward as the ship turned, its heavy guns swinging around on small turrets to aim at her. She rolled to the side, dodging a stream of shells as she shouted a warning to Shinji. She saw the pilot in his pig-snouted helmet focus on her and swing the ship around, the glowing tracers swinging towards her. She turned, pushing the armor to its limit, as the shells closed.

There was a wind in front of her, and her collision detection system went mad, blinking all through her HUD. Except it wasn't the wind.

Super-Shinji rocketed past her, turning in the air, slapping the incoming shells away with his hands, moving so fast his limbs were a blur. When that proved too slow, twin beams of light shot out from his eyes, staining her vision purple before the suit compensated, and swept the shells from the air, detonating them before they reached him. He dove down, tore open the roof of the ship in one fluid motion, and yanked the pilot out, tossing him across the hangar. The ship veered, smoke pouring from its engines from his merest glance, and spun in as he jumped off. The other one, virtually his twin, joined him, and the swept through the hangar in tandem.

The Green Lanterns, like a cloud of emerald fireflies, poured out of the Galctica's flight pod, swirling in formation over her. Toji, leading them, spun into the air, forming a massive, cartoonish ray gun from green light in either of his fists.

"Light 'em up!" he shouted, and the others joined him, firing green bursts from a thousand exotic weapons.

All of them except Rei. She walked calmly across the deck to an open space, stopped, and held out her hands. A pair of devices formed of green light appeared in her hands- an Eva's butterfly controls. She pulled them to her chest and more light poured out of her ring, forming a chair under her. She leaned back into it, falling into position as an entry plug formed around her. Light crackled out of her ring, gathered together under her, and great slabs of emerald lifted up and clamped together as piece by piece, rivet, she build a simulacrum of Unit One around her and slowly stood up, towering over the Galactica, and strode forward, kicking the Eva's huge feet through the ranks of Astartes firing on her.

The tank flew past her head. She looked over her shoulder. Banner.

Shinji radioed her. "It's working! _It's working! They're falling back!"_

She swept low through the hangar, strafing the Marines with her repulsors as they fell back, firing at her with their bolters. She saw one swinging around a heavy weapon, a cannon that fired some sort of superheated gas, and rolled in the air, popping smoke.

"Mari," Shinji radioed, "We're almost there. When I give the signal, break with your team. You've got to take out their warp engines."

"Roger," said Mari. She landed, ducked under a hail of bolter fire, and returned with a repulsor blast to the face. They _were_ falling back, laying down cover fire as they headed for the far end of the hangar.

She turned in time to see a gleaming sword, wreathed in shimmering fire, swinging for her head. It clanged against another blade and turned as Asuka the Amazon ran screaming at the Marine who swung it, a glittering sword in one hand and a shield strapped to her other arm.

That freaking _cat_ was slicing through the air, yowling and butting head first into Marines, knocking them off their feet.

"Get ready," Shinji radioed.

Mari headed toward the aft section of the ship, where her team would meet her. Ritsuko Akagi was already there, her cat skimming over to perch on her shoulder, along with Cyborg Hikari, Green Lantern Toji, and the Astartes that called himself Alpharius.

Oh, and the Hulk.

Mari popped her helmet open.

"Hulk smash now?"

"In a minute," Mari said, breathlessly.

"I have the ship schematics," said Hikari.

"Me too," said Mari. "If either of us goes down, the other leads."

"The warp core is this way," Alpharius indicated.

"You better not be screwing us," said Mari.

Alpharius put on his helmet, which he'd marked with an XX in red paint, along with some sort of symbol scrawled on his chest and shoulder pads, a snake with a bunch of heads. His voice came out distorted by the helmet.

"If I had intended to 'screw you', you would be screwed. We must hurry. We will not be able to approach the drive if the ship attempts translation to the Warp."

"Let's go," said Mari.

She closed her helmet and radioed Shinji.

"I have everybody. We're going."

"Same here," said Shinji. "Commence attack."

"Hey," Mari added.

"Yeah?"

"Good luck, Shinji."

"Yeah. You too. Out."

"Hulk smash _now?" _

"Yeah," said Mari, pointing towards the corridor that would lead them to the warp drive. "Just try to smash in that particular direction."

Shinji's heart thundered against his ribs. He didn't belong here. He wasn't meant to lead these people. He wasn't meant to lead anyone. He was meant to strap himself into this armor and butt his head against an angel until it died. He felt small and unimportant, even towering over the rest of them in his armor. He crouched behind the upturned Thunderhawk as the last of the fire from the retreating Astartes began to die down, breathing hard. He opened his helmet.

The others were crouched along with him. To his right, Hikari hefted her hammer, peering around the end of the craft, while the Avengers moved up behind him. Shinji turned to look over his shoulder and check that his team was all there- Sue Storm, and Ben Grimm. Parker, Rogers, Johnny Storm and Logan would remain with the main force defending the _Galactica_. Shinji's speartip team was to clear a path to the cells where the alternate Asukas were being held, then call in a second wave of Autobots to move them all out while the defense team held the path back.

There was the other matter, too. The Adversary, the task of dragging him back to the ship and the Metaflux Capacitor, and the only one who stood a chance of accomplishing that.

Shinji Ikari, the Superman of Earth 2, stood out in the open, ignoring the shells bursting on his chest, waiting for Shinji's signal. He was glad his helmet was closed, willfully forgetting that his counterpart had x-ray vision and could probably see the look of intense worry on his face. He opened his helmet anyway.

"Are you going to be able to handle this?" Shinji shouted.

"Me?" Superman shot back.

"I saw what happened to your world."

"I'll fix it."

"How are you so freaking confident?"

"I'm Superman. I can do anything."

Shinji nodded, dipped his chin against the switch, and closed his helmet. He stood up, waiting for his radar to scan for hostiles. He turned to Storm.

"I'm going in first with the big guns. When we secure the head of the first corridor, you move up and shield us so the defense team can spread out and cover our rear."

He didn't wait for a reply. He didn't have a chance. Hikari took two bounding jumps and leapt over the downed Thunderhawk, screaming and twirling Mjolnir over her head. So much for subtlety. Shinji kicked on his boot jets, took off, and was quickly outpaced by his counterpart, racing past him in a blue streak. The roof of the hangar was actually high enough for him to fly, his HUD switching to in flight mode with attitude and altitude readings and a virtual eight ball in the lower corner. He got up some speed and then swept down low, clinging to the deck. A schematic of the ship, the gigantic ship bigger than the biggest earthly city, was superimposed over his screen, with a blinking marker for the _Galactica_, Mari, and their objective.

At the edge of the hangar, massive corridors led into the bowels of the ship, each wide and tall enough to accommodate the vehicles and materiel gathered here. Each was also sealed by a heavy set of blast doors that had to be several meters thick, made of a strange plastic-metal alloy that was astonishingly resistant to damage.

That is, until Superman and Hikari turned on it. Twin beams of heat swept out from his gaze, circled out a round plug from the doors, and a single swing from Mjolnir knocked it in, leaving a smoldering, red hot tunnel through the doors. Shinji came to a skidding landing behind them and motioned for the others to move up and provide some cover. The _Galactica_'s main turrets swung around to cover the doors, anticipating a counter attack.

The floor started rumbling.

"What is that?" said Shinji.

Superman turned around, his eyes glowing faintly. "More of the Marines. A lot more, and those machines that fight for the Adversary. They're coming this way."

"We can't stay," said Shinji. "There's enough firepower here."

"I know, but-"

"You can't be everywhere at once."

"He can be in two places at once," said Hikari, gesturing with the hammer. The _other_ Super-Shinji was throwing a Land Raider across the hangar.

"Let's go," said Shinji.

He ducked around the edge of the opening cut in the blast doors and immediately jumped back, just missed by a screaming bolt of superheated gas that skimmed over the hangar deck, hit an overturned vehicle, and exploded. A Marine with a heavy backpack carrying a massive cannon was slowly advancing, light building up in the weapon's containment chamber for another shot.

Superman stepped through the rounded opening, casual as you pleased. The next bolt skimmed over his skin, cutting through the air, but washed over him harmlessly, like water, barely ruffling his hair. A quick burst of his heat vision severed the cable, and the Marine charged him, roaring, hefting a combat knife over his head.

"Really?"

Mjolnir sailed past his head, clipped the Marine in the face, and bounced back to Hikari's hand.

Superman shot her a look.

"Let's go!" Shinji shouted, his voice amplified by the armor. Storm and Grimm were already moving up, and the Maximals were setting up a defensive line from the flight pod to the corridor.

"You've got incoming!" Shinji called back.

"We're on it!" Optimus Primal replied as Storm raised a shield from the Galactica to the corridor.

Shinji turned and ran up the corridor, following the others. The sensors in his suit warned him that more were coming, a whole squad of them rolling around the corner and raising their boltguns. After running from them for so long, it was amazing, cathartic. His counterpart may as well have been taking a stroll through a spring rain, for all the damage the shells did to him, and Hikari wasted no time wading among the Astartes, cracking their weapons apart with her hammer and spinning the blocky head into their midsections and helmets, knocking them aside like tenpins.

It didn't matter, though, if they were cut off on the return, with dozens, maybe hundreds of vulnerable people with them. He did his best to keep up, turning to coordinate the rearguard action. He tested his radio.

"Storm, are you reading?"

"Loud and clear. We've lost you."

"Follow the plan. Keep moving up, bring up the Lanterns to hold the line behind you."

"Understood."

Behind the oncoming ranks of Marines was another, in more elaborate armor draped with pale robes. He walked with a tall staff, its tip clicking on the deck, and other than the sword at his hip carried no other weapon. Made of some sort of crystal, his staff had an inner light, a bar of energy that flickered in its depths up to the black crystal skull embedded in the head, a golden halo of seven points, with the staff itself making the eighth. He chanted something in some harsh, guttural tongue, and shadows swept along with him, as though he waded in a sea of ink. Shinji moved up, calling a warning, but it was too late.

A wave of darkness rose up and crashed over him, shutting out all light. His sensors went made, braying at him as a dozen alarms went off. Radar, infra-red, everything went dark as the surging darkness pushed him back, his armored boots scraping over the deck. Something hit him and pushed him backwards, turning him away, and he lost his bearings. He saw it for a brief second, a glimpse of long, pale limbs tightly wrapped in papery flesh, ending in long black claws with hooked tips. He raised his AT-Field and turned around and around, trying to shine his exterior lights, but the cones of brilliance went a few inches into the murk and died. He could see his field shimmering over the planes of his armor, but nothing else.

He turned around and punched Superman in the face. He was glad for the AT-Field, as he would have probably lost his hand otherwise.

"Stay calm!" he shouted, grabbing the chest plate of Shinji's armor. "I can still see some of the spectrum. Keep your field up."

He didn't so much follow as he was dragged through the murk. The chittering creatures moved through the darkness, snapping long, bony jaws, but didn't come any closer. He saw why. They were swarming Hikari as she turned the hammer around and around, crushing them with wild blows. She was wreathed in light, shining from her armor and winged helmet and the hammer itself, shining like a beacon. She saw the two Shinjis approaching, turned, and slammed the hammer to earth.

There was a peel of thunder he could hear in his bones, and the darkness rolled back as Super-Shinji dragged him out of it and he turned, blasting the creatures with his repulsors. They drew back into the darkness, retreating like a living thing from Hikari's glittering form. The other Astartes hadn't weathered the attack so well. Most of them were collapsed onto the ground, unmoving, or screaming and swinging their weapons wildly at nothing.

The sorcerer raised his staff in one hand, lifting a power sword in the other, and charged at the head of another band of Marines. Shinji ducked behind Hikari as she charged, following her into the fray. She turned the sorcerer's blows with wide, arcing swings of her hammer, rocking him backwards. Lightning sparked between them, like two serpents locked in a deadly embrace, the scintillating multicolored hell-lightning folding over the might of the Norse God of Thunder and back again. She shoulder-checked the sorcerer, leaping, and spun in the air, striking his staff with a two-handed swing. The crystal cracked in half and the sorcerer screamed as his witchfire surged back over him in a wave, washing back as if it were fleeing the head of the hammer.

His counterpart grimly, silently moved forward, striding through their weapons, ripping boltguns out of hands, catching swings from chainswords and twisting them apart with a flick of his wrist.

"I know you're here!" he called. "I can do this all day."

"Hey," Shinji shouted, "I thought you were under control."

He turned back, his eyes full of fire. "I am under control."

Hikari crushed the sorcerer's sword-hand with a blow from Mjolnir, choked up on the haft, and brought the hammer up under her opponent's snouted helmet, knocking him back. Her other hand shot out, grabbed his helm, and twisted. She yanked him around, folding the faceplate of the helmet into a twisted mess, and hurled him into the wall.

Five more Marines came around the next corner, four fanning out around one carrying a long launch tube over his shoulder. The Astartes with the tube dropped to one knee, tapped buttons on a control panel along the edge of the tube, and fire.

"Incoming!" Shinji shouted, raising his AT-Field.

He was about to launch countermeasures when Super-Shinji plucked the missile out of the air, closing his fist around the warhead. There was a low _whump,_ streamers of fire spitting from between his fingers like water from a running hose, and he threw the rest of the projectile aside. Before another Marine could load a second shell into the tube, Shinji made a pinpoint repulsor shot, knocking him back, and Hikari hurled the hammer, trashing the tube. It leapt back to her hand and they formed a line, advancing.

Shinji radioed back to the others. "Storm, how are we doing back there?"

He heard shooting in the background when she came back over the radio. "We have the second position, but there's a whole horde of these things coming our way. There must be thousands of them. The Lanterns are keeping the hangar sealed off, but" there was a burst of static, "the Decepticons" more static.

He tapped his helmet, as if that would help.

"Hold the line! We don't have far to go."

"I'm tired of waiting."

Shinji reeled around in time for the Adversary to seize him by the neck, lifting his armored form off his feet, and hurl him into the wall. His armor went mad, red lines appearing through his chest plate and helmet.

Shinji Ikari of Earth 2 faced him down.

"I'm going to give you one chance. Give me my world back."

"Or what?" the Adversary said, smirking. "Oh, this is it, isn't it! I get to hear my speech. What is it, the World of Cardboard? Do I get a 'this ends now' or are you going to spout your oh-so-original catch phrase, 'I'm Superman'", he trilled in a mocking, sing-song tone, holding his hands next to his face, "'I can do _anything.'"_

"No," Superman said, softly. "I'm going to show you just what **anything** really means."

He vanished.

Shinji blinked. His counterpart just disappeared, and before he could process what happened, too fast for his eye to even notice, his fist met the back of the Adversary's head. There was a most glorious look of absolute horror on his marble-white face as the cracking blow sent him hurtling face-first into the wall. He turned around in time for Superman to seize him by the throat and slide him right up the wall, pinned.

"Oh," the Adversary croaked, "this is going to be fun."

"_Run!"_ Superman roared, "Go! Get the girls! I've got him!"

"Do you now," the Adversary grinned, ramming his fist into Superman's gut.

He coughed, but didn't let go, the two spiraling through the corridor, ignoring gravity, leaving a gouge in the wall.

"Go!"

Hikari moved towards them. Shinji grabbed her arm.

"No, we have to keep moving."

She looked at him, nodded, and they ran deeper into the ship.

* * *

Even leaning on Asuka for support, he was getting tired. The wound in his side, despite the repairs that had been made, was aching sharply with each step, and when he looked down at the bandage, he saw spots of blood. Asuka eyed them warily, her grip around his shoulders tightening.

"Do you want to stop?"

"_No,"_ he barked. "Keep going."

The ship was shuddering around him, the walls ringing with explosions and rippling booms that poured through the deck and the walls, twisting them. He could feel it moving, just as he could feel pads generating artificial gravity under his feet and he could feel the electrical current passing through cables embedded in the walls. He was beginning to understand his failures before. He was pushing too hard trying to use a sledgehammer on a walnut.

He stumbled a little. She held him up.

"How much further?"

"Not far."

The noises were heading their way. He saw the doors of the Apothecarium- he'd seen them before, when he was floating in and out of consciousness. He stopped.

"What do we do?" said Asuka.

"I can't fight like this. I need help. Take me to the prison."

Asuka nodded and helped him lurch around, down the corridor. He could feel the evil in this place, lurking in every shadow, watching him. It was getting stronger. If he let his eyes grow lidded and his senses fold out from his body, he could feel something coming, a great oozing mass of corruption, but it was different from the foulness around him, like a note of the same song, in a different key. Somewhere within it was a bright spot, slowly fading, drawn down into the darkness. It was picking up speed.

It knew he was here.

"Hurry."

He limped to the edge of the corridor and stopped, drawing up from the corner. There were a pair of Astartes standing guard, the points of their swords resting between their feet. They were unmoving, like statues.

"On three," he whispered.

Asuka nodded, edging behind him. He could feel her muscles tense, the thing that lived inside her coiling up, spitting and snarling in offense as she took control of it. They edged closer to the corner.

One of the Astartes stepped out in front of him. In a panic, he nearly fell backwards.

Shinji blinked. There was blood on his blade.

"What-"

"You may pass," the enormous warrior grunted, and turned.

"Wait," said Shinji. "Where are you going?"

"To join the fight."

"On whose side?"

"Mine."

He shook his head. "Why-"

The Marine lifted his sword, flicking the thumb stud that broad the power field to life, burning the gore away from the edge. "For the Emperor."

Shinji limped around the corner. The other Marine was lying face down in an expanding pool of blood, his helmeted head having rolled a fair distance away. Asuka moved out from under his arm and picked up the fallen sword, holding the long grip in both hands. She nodded towards the door. He took a breath, raised his hands, and focused. The doors pried open slowly, grinding on their tracks. He stepped inside.

A hundred blue eyes fixed on him. Some of them moved closer to the bars, others shied away, crawling up against the back of their cells. He couldn't blame them, after what they must have seen.

"Asuka," he started to say, before the word died in his mouth.

"Asuka von Doom?"

A gloved hand shot out of a cell at the back of the chamber. He moved forward slowly, hugging himself. The despair here hung on his shoulders like a cloak of lead. Limping to the back of the vast chamber, he found her in a cell by herself, in her uniform, clutching a red blanket in one hand as she reached with the other.

"Is this a trick? Is it really you?"

He took her hand. "Stand back."

She squeezed his palm and retreated to the back of the cell. Shinji threw his arms back and yanked the bars right out of the wall and barged into the cell, throwing his arms around her neck. She collapsed into him, and he yelped as she squeezed his ribs.

"Sorry," she said, her voice wavering.

The latch was deceptively simple. The collar fell away from her neck, and she stood up, her eyes wide.

"_Shinji!" _the other Asuka called.

He ducked outside.

Iquarius lurched into the cell block, and a song of screams and anguished wails rose up from the imprisoned Asukas, falling back from the bars. All of them but one. Older than the others, her hair gone gray, she clutched the bars and stared him down.

"Where are my _children?"_

The beast ignored her. He limped forward, dragging one leg. Thick ooze, some sort of pus or ichor, slithered out from the cracks in his armor plate and wreathed his limbs, and the fur of the wool cloak draped over the huge back pack on his armor was matted with gore and corruption, hanging down in streamers from his back, trailing fungal growth behind him. Diseased, hideous mushrooms and fibrous growths grew up in his footsteps, thick strands of foulness stretching from the sole of his foot as he took each step.

"Mine," he rasped, brushing the foul drew from his mouth with the back of his cracked gauntlet.

Shinji coughed. He could feel his lungs filling. His muscles ached, his bones felt weary. He fell against the wall, touching his bandages. His wounds had opened anew, and burned with an inner heat. Black tendrils spread out from under the wrappings, trailing through his skin.

Vampire Asuka shrieked and ran at Iquarius. With a contemptuous swing of his hand, he batted her aside, and she fell, folded, against one of the cells. He moved forward. A mass of diseased growth, like rotten wood, unfolded from his back, lifting over his head. It spread out, thin fingers of corruption stretching mucous between them, like a bat's wing. A livid red growth appeared on his forehead, pushing out. As it burst, yellow ooze running down between his eyes, a bony horn emerged from it, brown and cracked like old ivory.

"Mine," he repeated.

Shinji coughed, and his vision darkened.

Asuka pulled her gloves off. She took his hands.

It was like the lights flicking on. The pain in his side was simply gone, and more than that, he could feel his ribs pulling back together. The strength came back to his legs, and he stood up. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close, and she put her head against his chest, touching skin to skin as her cheek brushed against him. She loosed the fire.

The world went white.

He held her tight. Everything was gone.

"What is this?"

A woman stepped out of the light, like an angel drawing out of the sun. He knew her, somehow. She looked like Rei, almost, but quite. She had higher cheekbones and her eyes were green, her hair a dark brown. Standing beside her was a tall, statuesque woman with fiery blonde hair that ran down to her waist, spilling over her shoulders like a cloak. Standing on either side of them was Stephen Strange…

…and Doctor Doom.

Asuka seized up, squeezing him even harder. Shinji swallowed. "What is this?"

"A memory," said the brown haired woman. "I'm your mother, Shinji. I'm Yui Ikari."

Asuka's jaw fell open. "_Mama?_"

"It might be a trick," said Shinji, pulling her to his side.

"You are wise to doubt," said Doom.

"How are you here?"

"We aren't," said Strange. "We implanted this memory in the both of you to explain what you are, should we be unable."

"Your births were not natural," said Yui. "Not entirely. Especially not you, Shinji. Your father and I are not mutants. You were engineered."

"But they said I'm not a mutant," said Asuka.

"Correct," said von Doom, "but your lineage provides you with a spiritual connection to fire. Through ritual, we have connected you to the _ultimate _fire. The spark of creation itself."

"Together," said Yui, "You are a weapon. Asuka provides the power source. Shinji provides the control. You are our last hope, after all else fails, if no one is worthy to lift the hammer of Thor or the Evangelions are destroyed. It is what you are for."

The vision ended as abruptly as it began.

Iquarius loomed over them, the raw _stench _of him clouding his nostrils. Shinji looked up.

"Let's go."

* * *

There was, for a single moment, a beat of fear in Shinji's heart as he watched Hikari and his counterpart race down the corridor. The Adversary watched them go, a bemused look on his face, before he seized Shinji by the wrist and dragged his hand free of his silky white throat. Only the look of contempt on his face gave him resolve. He was not going to let this monster win. He didn't come this far for nothing. He would not fail his home, his people, after so much and so long.

He wouldn't leave Asuka behind.

"How noble," the Adversary purred, "A heroic sacrifice! I'm sure the kiddies at home are just eating this up."

"Shut up," said Shinji. He reared back and punched, hard.

His fist met the Adversary's chin and rammed his head right through the wall, deeply denting the strange plastic-metal alloy. It was like punching a statue, for all the good it did. The Adversary wrestled free, shoving him back, and Shinji grabbed him by the arms, yanking him around.

"You're not getting away."

"I'm not the one who needs to escape, here."

"Shut up," Shinji snapped, dragging him up into the ceiling.

They rolled across it, a weightless grapple, running a long dent in the surface as they went, bashing the support struts away. The Adversary turned and brought his knee up into Shinji's stomach, driving the air out of his lungs, and turned him around, throwing him down into the floor. The deck rolled from the impact, rippling out to send stress fissures up the wall as the metal sheared.

Without missing a beat, Shinji bounced back, seized him by the ankles, and brought him down again, turning as he did to crash him head first into the wall. The Adversary kicked loose and righted himself in the air, his feet dangling above the deck.

"Oh, you're angry."

"I want my people back."

The Adversary touched his chin. "Let me think. No."

Shinji felt his teeth grinding as he reached out, only to miss. The Adversary ducked his grasp, sliding like a snake, twisting in the air. Shinji turned and managed to clip him upside the head with the backside of his fist.

"The interesting thing," said the Adversary, seizing Shinji's wrist, "is that you don't actually know how to fight. I do."

He pulled Shinji around, twisting his arm into a joint lock, and spun him into the wall.

"Shut up," Shinji snapped, throwing his elbow back to catch the Adversary in the chin.

"Is that all you've got?"

"No," said Shinji. "You still have a chance to give up."

"Oh, I know," said the Adversary. "So noble. You're so good. I just adore it. It's so easy for you, his favored son."

"You're out of your mind."

"Am I?" the Adversary screamed, turning Shinji to throw his arms about his neck in a sleeper hold. "Am I? You have it easy, you spineless little worm. He hands you triumph on a platter and you act like you've made some grand sacrifice. You even got to keep Rei, and you don't care about her!"

"She's my sister!" Shinji croaked. "I love her-"

"Not like I loved mine!" The Adversary shrieked, ramming Shinji's head into the wall. "She was mine! She was mine! She was mine! Mine! Mine!"

Shinji tilted his head to the side. The Adversary's hand went past him, the heel of his palm hitting the wall. He turned under it, moving faster now, his enemy's blows moving with graceful slowness, like a ballet dancer underwater.

"That's what this is about," he said calmly. "Something happened to her."

The Adversary's mouth twisted in a sneer. His words were slow, slurred. "He stole her from me!"

"Who?"

Shinji knew he was speeding up, starting to move too fast. He focused, and saw motes of dust on the air. He could hear the tinkling of individual shell casings hitting the floor in the hangar. Heartbeats, tens of thousands of them, many of them doubled, a rapid staccato from two organs beating as one. There was one among them, one that outshone all the others the way the sun outshines the stars in the sky. One unique rhythm he would know everywhere and anywhere. A smaller one, a tiny one just struggling into life, beat beside it. And he understood.

He caught the Adversary's fist in his hand.

"Let me help you."

He froze.

"What?"

"I'll help you. I'll help you bring your Rei back, if there's a way. Stop this."

"You're joking."

Shinji panted. "No, I'm not. You'll pay for your crimes, but listen to me. If you're doing this to help someone-"

"It's a trick!" the Adversary roared, seizing him by the throat.

Shinji calmly forced his airway open. "No, it isn't. I'll help you. Free my people. Stop this madness."

"You can't."

"I can. You said it yourself. I'm Superman."

The Adversary's jaw tightened, and his lips pulled back over his teeth. He blinked, and his eyes went from pale unmarred white with crimson irises to green with tiny black points for pupils.

"You don't understand! I'll never be free! They're watching us!"

"I know. I see them too."

The Adversary's answer was an incoherent scream, a frothing madman's shriek. Shinji turned him aside, grabbing his forearms to redirect him and spin him into the wall.

The Adversary wheeled, his fingers digging long scratches into the metal.

"I'll bring her back. It will be my world, my way. I don't care about the rest of you. You're not even real!"

"What will she say when she sees what you've done?"

"She would understand!" the Adversary shrieked, pounding his fists on Shinji's chest.

He pinned Shinji to the wall, then dragged him to the ground by the collar of his uniform. He pounded on Shinji's chest, his blows making his ribcage creak.

"She understood me! She wanted me for who I was, not what I could do for her! She knew the answer to the Riddle of Steel!"

Shinji caught his fist in mid-strike. "Then what is it? What is the answer?"

His eyes went wide. "I don't have to tell you!"

Shinji sighed. "I'm sorry. I gave you a chance."

"What-"

He took a breath. Everything froze. There was only one rule. He couldn't go faster than the speed of light, and that, really, was only a suggestion. He slid out from under the Adversary, who remained fixed, crouched almost like an ape assaulting prey over an empty stretch of corridor.

Shinji brought his fist up under the Adversary's chin. The blow sent a shockwave through the air. Here, so close to the speed of light, at the border between the sanity of the Newtonian realm of conventional physics and the quantum world of the tachyon, the spreading waves were a symphony of light, a tiny galaxy spreading out from a big bang in miniature. The Adversary's head snapped up, moving with an almost ponderous slowness.

He heard Asuka's heartbeat, that same sound, the only sound, as he rained blow after blow into the Adversary's gut, folding him in half. He looked on his enemy as only Superman could, with the pity only a perfect man can muster. There had been a time when Shinji himself rested on the knife edge.

He once cradled the love of his life in his arms, unmoving, the breath chased from her lungs, the light and glory of her beautiful life gone. He too had cried out that he would do anything. He truly was lucky. The universe answered him.

He looked at the Adversary and saw what he could have become, and his rage folded, doubled on itself, flavored by the sorrow of it.

In three microseconds, Shinji beat the Adversary to a bruised pulp. He fell against the wall, blood dribbling down his chin. He had two cracked ribs and a hairline fracture in his left arm.

"Stop this."

"No," he rasped.

"Shinji, please-"

"Don't call me that!" he roared.

"I can help you."

"Enough!"

He stood up, snarling. The core in his chest pulsed, humming with raw energy as it spun itself up, the super solenoid inside spinning through a spiraling. It ran along his bones, heating them until they shone through his flesh, like a flashlight held behind fingertips. He rose up as a black skeleton, a sepulchral thing with emerald monster's eyes and razor fangs, his voice distorted.

"My turn."

* * *

He was, at least to a degree, fighting, firing blasts at the Astartes that Hikari missed as she whirled through the halls. In her glittering armor she chased away the alien melancholy of the ship, the gibbering shadows retreating from the silvery light that radiated from her as she strode down the corridors, hefting the hammer of Thor. Sometimes there was a halo of radiance on her head, other times, the light fractured, becoming a rainbow that flowed over the walls. As she hurled the hammer, caught it when it bounced back to her hand, and shattered the crackling power sword of an Astartes captain in a single blow, she sang a high, lilting song in a language Shinji had never heard before.

His radio crackled in his ear.

"Are you reading me?" said Mari.

He paused, ducking between two of the struts.

"Yeah, go ahead."

"We're hitting some resistance down here. There are _things _between us and the warp core. Alpharius says we're about twenty minutes away if we can keep moving."

"Roger," said Shinji. "When you get there, radio me and hold your position. We're making good time, I-"

There was a thunderous boom that shook the walls. Shinji's hair stood on end, and he heard the servos on his leg armor whirring as the suit compensated and helped him keep his balance. The floor swayed under his feet. There was another boom, louder this time, and an alarm klaxon sounded, a harsh mechanical voice chanting in a gibberish tongue that sounded a lot like Latin.

"What was that?" Mari shouted. Shinji heard shooting in the background.

"I don't know," Shinji shot back. "This ship is going to be in pieces even if you can't disable the warp drive. We've got to get out of here."

"Proceeding with the mission. Mari out."

He ducked out from behind the support strut in time to dodge a tumbling Marine, his helmet caved in by a hammer blow. Hikari had buried herself in a cluster of the raging giants, turning their blows with one of their own swords and the hammer. Her movements were graceful, almost alien, flowing from point to point as though in a dance. He raised his gauntlets, but before he could fire the tide turned, there was a crack of armor, and they all fell back at once, collapsing against the corridor walls. She looked at the sword with a sneer of disgust and tossed it aside.

"Onward!" she shouted, gesturing with the hammer.

Shinji swallowed against a dry throat and followed her.

There was another thundering, hollow explosion, closer this time. Shinji brought up his map and checked it. They were only a few turns away from the space where the Asukas were being held. He motioned for Hikari to stop, but she ignored him, surging forward into a hail of bolter fire, dancing between the shells as if she knew where they would hit before they touched her, and Shinji fell back again, ducking behind a heavy strut for cover.

"Sue!" he shouted into his radio. "How are we doing?"

"Second and third waves are moving up!" she shouted back, grunting. "There are more of them down here. A _lot_ more, and they tell me there's more coming."

He nodded, though she couldn't see him, and switched the frequency. "Iron Shinji to Ironhide."

"Here!"

"It's time. We need wheels."

"Moving out!"

He looked up to see Hikari walking backwards, holding the hammer in front of her. His stomach dropped.

Alarms went off in his suit and a warning appeared- magnetic interference. That was a new one. He stumbled backwards as the wall shrieked and the metal bubbled out, expanding, unfolding as a patina spread over the surface and rust followed, moving along the corridor in a wave. As Hikari lifted the hammer, the spreading corruption shied away from her, pooling around her feet. An integrity alarm went off, and Shinji lifted his gauntlet to see corrosion spreading across the back. He rushed to Hikari's side, stepping into the protective field she was generating.

All at once, a tangled mass rolled through the corridor. The creature had torn a hole in the ship, melting it into slag and rust as it fell through it. It filled the cavernous hallway, great wings of bleached, cracked bone with filmy mucous stretched between them in mockery of a bat rising from its back. Its armored form was shaggy with fungus. Colonies of mushrooms, deathcaps and other wide, hairy growths, sprung up on either shoulder. When it lurched around to gaze upon him he saw his own face buried in the hulking rotten mass of it, a packed horn jutting out from his forehead.

Iquarius.

It swung its head around, looking up and down the corridor, breathing hard.

"My children," it rasped, "Rise."

The Marines strewn up and down the hall shuddered, shifted, and rose to groaning life. As they moved their joints creaked and popped, and foul, welling corruption oozed out from between the plates of their armor, sliding over the crimson and staining it a deep black. They stood up in grim silence, collecting their weapons from the floor, turning their smashed helmets around so they could gaze through the cracked lenses with dull, milky eyes.

"Oh _shit," _said Shinji.

Light burst through the opening in the wall. Shinji's optics darkened to compensate, and again he saw himself, stripped to the waist but for bandages wound around his ribs. Asuka clung to his back, her body wreathed in flame, and yet he didn't burn. Wherever she touched him, the flames rose up and plunged back into his flesh, flowing into his body. He held his hands high, curled into fists with his fingers jutting out at either end, chanting. Iquarius shied back, snarling, thick streamers of black spittle flopping out of his mouth onto the deck, and charged.

Hikari cried out and charged, but Shinji seized her cape.

"The mission!" he shouted. "We have to-"

"I can't leave him!" she shrieked, rounding on him. "It's my fault he's here! I-" she trailed off.

Her eyes sank. She lifted the hammer, turned it to gaze at the inscription on the side.

Without a word she turned and buried the head in skull of a lurching Astartes, bound in a rotting prison of living death, and at her touch it crumbled, a bilious, foul gas billowing out from its cracked armor.

"Stand with me and send these abominations to their graves," said Hikari, "and we will see our task to its end."

* * *

"Don't let go!" Shinji shouted.

By way of reply, Asuka tightened her grip around him. She'd locked her hands together under his arms and was blazing, light pouring out of her and into him. He felt vital, alive, and whole, like the sun was rolling through his veins. He saw every mote of dust, every tiny current in the air. As he pushed Iquarius through the wall and stepped forward, he noted Hikari's presence. He blinked, and saw her as she was.

He saw Hikari, standing in the corridor, a hammer in her hand. He could count the hairs in her pigtails, see the currents of air flowing in and out of her nostrils as she drew breath. Standing in the same spot, occupying the same place like a photographic double exposure, he saw a mighty warrior, gold of hair and fearsome of aspect, hefting the first of the heavens in flexing thews.

It was Iquarius that drew his eye. He saw the creature as it appeared, the thing on the surface- a bulging, liquid thing, covered in open sores, lichens, and fungus growing across a massive suit of armor that was a creaking, rotting blend of broken bone, putrid flesh, and corroded ceramite. From its back rose wings of rot, and from its head jutted a hard packed horn, like a rhinoceros. His mouth, forced open by broken teeth and dripping corruption over his caved-in chest, sneered.

He saw past appearance and into truth. Within the beast moved a little boy, shaking with fear, wreathed in rot. Tendrils of slime and sinew slithered around his body, hanging from his joints, plucking at his fingers like strings on a marionette, and yet he clasped the vileness to his body as tears of infections, putrid blood ran down his cheeks. All around him a terrible miasma billowed and swirled, its currents reaching off in every direction.

The corruption was everywhere. It dripped from every bolt, infused into every bulkhead like rust beneath a fresh coat of paint. As Iquarius roared and charged the corruption swelled and the rotten sinews banded about the little boy's throat grew tighter, choking back his breath. Shinji raised a shield, chanting an ancient invocation, and shuddered when the beast met it head-on. It was like a broken tooth being pulled, an old wound ripped open, an open sore bursting, and a terrible realization of loss all at once. When Iquarius moved the weight of something vast and ancient moved behind him, lending its strength to his arm.

Asuka put her chin on his shoulder. She leaned her head against his.

"Do you trust me?"

"Yes," she whispered.

"Don't let go. No matter what happens, what you see. Don't let go."

Shinji opened his mind and heart and drank deeply from the infinite well of raw power that surged in Asuka's chest, and with all his mental might he tore open a gate from the waking world of men into the realm of dreams, where all thought is truth. Asuka clung to him for dear life as a sea gale howled around them, and when he opened his eyes he found himself standing on the deck of a ship, an old wooden warship cast about on a rising sea, the waves all around him like mountains, their white peaks like a mountain peak in winter. He rested his arms on Asuka's, slipping his fingers through hers. The prow of the ship reared up.

"I can't hold on!" she shouted.

He moved on pure instinct, and drew her around before him. Her saw her as she was, not as she appeared to be, the being of light trapped within crude matter. Her skin was gold, and her hair like polished copper, and her eyes were sunshine on the ocean on a clear day. He clasped her cheeks in his hands and pulled her close to him.

"Do you trust me?" he said again.

"Yes."

"It will be easier this way."

It was a simple thing.

He kissed her.

Then, they were one.

He could feel her in his mind, her hopes, her dreams, all her terrible sadness exposed to him at once, and felt her sudden pang of sympathy as she saw the same. When he moved she moved with him, part of him, the endless furnace of her power driving his own. Iquarius reared up from the front of the ship, snarling and bellowing, and brought his rotten fists down in the center of the boat. It cracked in half with a great ripping sound.

He took a step and put his foot down on ice. A chill wind howled over an arctic waist but it didn't touch him. He saw something falling from the sky, glowing with emerald disease, radiating evil that tainted the air around it. It slammed to Earth before him, crashing through the ice and sending up a plume of superheated gas, and he felt Asuka's fear within his own belly, tight and cold, but he raced forward.

The object lay buried in the ice, sinking into a pool of bubbling water, and he knew what it was, the same corruption that infested the ship, somehow rendered into physical form, sinking into the Arctic ice. It was full of power without reason but there was something else, ancient and hungry and full of raw sorrow, and in the ice it waited.

Iquarius came at him again, and he raised a shield of pure will, driving the beast back. When the tendrils of corruption slithered over it, he heard voices nail themselves into his mind, booming whispers that drowned out all thought.

_She doesn't love you you only hurt Hikari mother never cared about you father hates you rei hates you everyone hates you you're weak weak weak weak…_

He ground his teeth and focused, drawing yet more power. Something was screeching, something beyond Asuka, something on the other side of her, and he understood Doom's words. Creation. Raw power. Life.

The thing that was Iquarius hated it.

Shinji saw the truth behind appearance.

"Let me show you!" he shouted.

He was reduced to a single point. He hurled the psychic fire across the wastes, vaporizing the water in this realm of the unreal, and when it washed over Iquarius it opened his eyes. Shinji felt his body vanish and he was only Shinji, Asuka tightly bound to him, clinging to him like a rock on a reef battered by the storm, and he clung back. Yet for all their torment around them there was only peace. Sun shining on a ship's deck, the air turned to glass by the heat from the sun.

High above on a flying bridge a girl stood, the sun in her hair, the breeze on her skin, anticipation making her arms shake as she leaned on the rail. She was, for one of the only times in her miserable life, truly happy.

"And then you came."

Iquarius screamed, his bellow like the sound of a thousand bones breaking, of a rotten fish sliding over a sinking ship's deck, and his scream was two, torn free of his corrupted lungs by truth.

Shinji's voice was the aether.

_What did you do?_

"I did what I had to do!" Iquarius roared, snarling at slamming his fists through the empty air. He turned from the girl on the high deck, shying from her as a vampire would the sun. He shielded himself with his wing. With a whisper of his will, Shinji burned it away, prompting the daemon to scream.

_No. See._

Iquarius -no, he was still Shinji then- was on his knees, screaming into a phone.

"_Release the Eva! I have to save her!" _

A familiar voice spoke in even tones, unafraid even of a child-god. "The risk is too great."

"_You don't understand!" _

"You don't understand."

Gendo hung up.

Iquarius-Shinji threw the phone down and shattered it and his rage was made manifest, and the rock before him cracked from the force of his fury. He threw his arms over his head and screamed at the heavens and something answered him, lurking in the air since the day men had freed it, waiting at last for the perfect moment when the perfect host would need it more than ever.

_I can help you._

_Don't listen to it!_ Shinji shouted, making the world quake. _It lies!_

_I can save her. You can't do it alone. You're not strong enough._

_I'll do anything!_ Iquarius-Shinji screamed.

His eyes flew open. The power roared through him, and the earth buckled beneath his feet. Psychic hoarfroast formed on his face, his clothes, matted his hair as he trembled. He could _feel_ Unit Two, buried in the depths of the volcano. He clenched his fists and blew out his chest and _pulled_, and with all his might he raised the Eva.

The surface of the magma froze over and cracked, then buckled as it lifted up, sliding away from the Eva's shoulders. The protective gear was all but destroyed, tented inwards by the pressure and cracking as the expression of his psychic might turned its skin to ice. He pulled and pulled until he wept blood and his fingers were wounding his palms, until Unit Two crested the rim of the cratered and toppled over.

After all that, tearing the armor away was easy. He tore it apart with his telekine gift and his bare hands, pulling it apart and dragging the armor away until he pulled the plug open. The LCL, too hot, washed over him as he cracked the plug like an egg.

At last he had her. Cradled in his arms, folded against his huge chest, she struggled for breath. Her eyes flickered open, blinking.

"Don't die!" he pleaded, "Don't die! _Don't die!"_

The scene changed. Misato.

"You can't do this!" she screamed, pointing her sidearm at him, for all the good that would do.

"Yes, I can," he said, calmly. He truly was Iquarius now.

"Shinji, _please, _think about what you're doing."

He brushed her aside. He felt her arm fold under the blow, the bone shattering. She screamed, the gun went off, the bullet missed him by a mile. He kicked her to the side and walked past, ripping the doors off their hinges with his mind.

Gendo was standing behind his desk, a frantic look on his face.

"Son," he said, "If you would just listen to me-"

"_I'm not your son." _

"Wait-"

It was the last word Gendo Ikari ever spoke. Iquarius made him very small, and very dense, and when he released his psychic grasp the pressure was released and the office was very red. He turned around, smiling smugly.

Rei was there.

"What did you do?" she said, softly.

"He tried to kill Asuka!" Iquarius roared, the air itself quaking from his fury.

"You killed him," she whispered.

"Of course I did. He tried to kill Asuka!"

Rei looked up at him. Only then did he notice her plugsuit.

"They were going to send me."

_Iquarius' voice echoed in the void, like clashing rock. "That didn't happen! She tried to kill me! She wanted-" _

Rei moved forward. "There is something else here."

Iquarius stepped back. His face twisted into a sneer. "I need it."

"It's evil. You must-"

Merciful. He was merciful. A single blow to the head. He saw something rising from her, some energy sneaking away, gathering itself somewhere else. The voice in his head made it easy to root it out and be rid of it. No more Rei. She couldn't be trusted.

It was another time, and Asuka was screaming. She threw the lamp from the bedside table in her hospital room at him. It shattered on his chest, and he barely flinched.

"You _murderer!"_ she raged, "_I never want to see you again!"_

"I saved you!"

"You _killed people! You killed Misato!" _

"I had to."

"You killed _Kaji._ I hate you!"

It was an easy thing. Her mind was so open, so ready. He just touched it a little.

Fixed it.

"What was I saying?" she said, touching the side of her head.

"How you love me," he said softly, taking a step, using his gift to reshape himself. He brought himself down to her level.

She buried her face in his chest. "I love you, Shinji. You saved me!"

"Yes," he said, grinning. "I did."

_That's not true!_ Iquarius voice rang in the void, _It didn't happen that way!_

Shinji stepped forward. Iquarius rounded on him, but shied from the burning fury of pure creation that surged in his chest, his soul joined with Asuka's.

"Tell them!" Iquarius bellowed, shaking his fists before his twisted maw, "tell them it's not true!"

_It is,_ the slippery voice whispered, like a sharp cough. _It's all true. I gave you what you asked for. I never gave you less._

Iquarius screamed. The Primarch sank to his knees, the bones in his legs grinding as he wailed, clutching his skull.

"I didn't mean it!"

Asuka-Shinji spoke. He wasn't sure who was who now. "Then why did you do it?"

_Because he wanted to, _the daemon rasped, _because he liked it. _

"I didn't!"

Shinji moved forward. "You have to see the truth."

"I don't want to."

"You must."

It was over. He _won_. Nagisa's blood was fresh on his hands, still stinging his palette. The tiny voice in his mind chuckled at him.

_Blood for the blood god._

Asuka stumbled away from the plug, clutching her head. Blood dribbled down her nose. She was looking at him oddly, as if she couldn't place him.

"Something's not right," she moaned.

"What?" Iquarius demanded, taking her by the shoulder. "What's wrong?"

"I… don't touch me," she hissed. "I know what you did."

He frowned. "I don't-"

She tried to shake out of his grasp, but as always he was too strong. "You did something to my head. You made me do things, you sick bastard."

"I didn't!" he screamed, "I fixed you! _I made you better!_"

"Let go of me!" Asuka shrieked, kicking her feet, "Help me! _Somebody help me!"_

There were others, Toji and Kensuke, standing behind him. They said nothing. Toji frowned.

"Here," said Shinji.

He just needed to apply a little more pressure this time, a little more force. Make her remember that she loved him. He reached into her mind and he pushed… and she went limp in his arms. She spasmed, her chest jerking, and a fine foam trickled from her lips.

Iquarius screamed, but it was more than a scream. The aether and the warp trembled, boiled as he threw his head back, clutched his skull, and wailed, a psychic shriek that rippled out through the immaterium, etched forever in the minds of things that lived beyond time. He fell to his knees, coughing black bile through his tears.

He understood, now, why the Emperor had refused.

Better to let him believe his own lies.

"I can save her." Shinji said, quietly.

"What?"

_What?_

"No tricks, no lies, no deals. I can bring her back as she was, before you destroyed her mind. I can heal her."

"You can?" Iquarius whispered.

_Of course he can. She'll hate you all over again. What you did was worse than what Arael did to her. Some part of her always knew, when you were touching her, what you had done. Screamed for you to stop. Until you broke her mind completely and erased the girl she was, the woman she would grow to be. I helped. _

_You asked nicely. _

"I can," said Shinji.

"Do it."

_Yes. Do it._

Shinji breathed. He unfolded the gates of imagination, and he was in the infirmary.

Kensuke, the looming chief Apothecary, looked up at the sudden intrusion as Shinji, Asuka, and Iquarius stepped out of the fold in space. Doctor Ikari looked up from his patient. His eyes widened.

"Oh _shit." _

Shinji held Asuka's hand. He looked at Kensuke.

"Get out of my way."

With a flicker of thought, he brushed the Good Doctor aside and hurled him into the wall. He was on in his feet in an instant, for all the good it did.

"What are you _doing?" _

Iquarius seized him, dragged him from the ground by this throat.

"Kensuke," me murmured, wheezing. "What did I do to you?"

"You made me _perfect,"_ he coughed, "My lord."

Iquarius shook. "What did I do?"

In a single, almost easy motion, he broke Kensuke's neck and let him collapse.

Shinji pulled Asuka to his side, standing over the silent girl on the bier. As Iquarius switched off the stasis field, her vital signs plummeted. Iquarius roared as her heartbeat stopped, and she let out her last, strangled breath.

Shinji ignored him. There were things, all around, lurching abominations in the psychic tempest that flowed all around him, reaching out to grasp that tiny spark of light he saw escaping the girl's body and rip it to shreds. He held Asuka's hand tight and snatched the sad little thing first, before they could reach it.

"You _lied to me!"_ he roared. "She'll be lost in the warp! She's in _hell!"_

Shinji held out his hand. A tiny light flickered over it, a luminous red sphere.

Iquarius leaned over it. He reached his hands towards it, and then shied away.

"Did you save her?"

"Yes," said Shinji.

"Then take her from away from me," said Iquarius, stepping back. "Take her someplace far away, where the sun is always shining, and the sea breeze is always on her face. Someplace where there are no more monsters."

"I'll do better than that," said Shinji.

Iquarius turned away, lurching, his broken wing folded over his back.

"Where are you going?"

"I have a Legion to destroy."

He ducked under the lintel and departed into the ship, his scraping boots thumping on the deck, and behind him was the empty laughter of a thirsting god.

"Shinji!" Asuka shouted.

He turned. The Doctor was running, ducking through a door.

That didn't matter. The Asuka on the table, older but still every bit as beautiful, had been hurt. They had… done things to her.

"I can heal her," he said.

He drew the soul of Asuka Shikinami to his chest and held her close, to free his mind. He drew on Asuka's strength, folding it through the currents of the aether around him, murmuring ancient chants learned from the Sorcerer Supreme himself.

Asuka the Vampire lurched into the room. The Asuka on the table sat up and screamed, clutching a blanket around herself.

"Help me," the vampire rasped.

She was badly hurt. Her side was folded in. The creature inside her wasn't healing her anymore, and the wounds on her face and leg had opened up. She was bleeding, badly. The ones beside her, Hikari and Mari, walked in a daze, holding her up under her arms.

"Shinji," Asuka said softly, tugging on his hand. She'd never let go. "Your nose is bleeding."

"I'll be okay," he said, breathing hard. "I have to help her."

"Haven't you done enough?"

"No," he said.

* * *

He crossed his arms in front of his face. The Adversary reared up, his body full of pale purple light, a furnace burning around his chest that made his bones glow like iron from a forge. He threw his mouth open and the blast came, and Shinji was hurled backwards, passing through the wall as though it were paper. The Adversary was on his feet, _changing._ His arms elongated, reaching out, and twisted, turning on themselves, his bones shattering, creaking as they changed- crystal flowed along their length as he slammed them together and a high pitched shrieking sound rang through the bones of the ship.

"Remember _this?"_ he roared.

Heat, searing heat, washed over Shinji's body, divided by his palms as he raised his hands over his face. His cape blew out behind him, snapping from the superheated wind that rose all around him as the beam cut through the hull of the ship, briefly falling on bulkhead after bulkhead, panel after panel until they went red hot, then white hot, then collapsed into slag and the beam kept on cutting.

Shinji planted his feet in the melted steel and thrust his chest out. The beam skimmed over the S and split as he walked forward through it, grimly setting his jaw.

"Yes," he said, his voice calm but clapping like thunder, "I remember the Fifth Angel. It hurt."

The Adversary yanked his arms apart, the crystal shrieking as it shattered and reformed. "Let's see how you like this, then."

His fingers stretched out, hissing as they took on a strange glow. They cut whatever they touched, leaving glowing trails in the metal around him as he charged, turning his arms to whip them around. He brought his hand around and snapped his light-whips, wrapping them around Shinji's arms, and yanked them tight, biding him. They sizzled where they touched his uniform.

"These were always a favorite of mine. Maybe I'll try them on your pretty wife."

Shinji sucked in a deep breath, expanded his chest, and snapped the whips. "I didn't even have to bite them, this time."

The Adversary reared up, pulling back his wounded hand, and his chest widened. He lurched forward as his back grew, lifting up, and he became more and more square, walking on stunted legs. A collar of bone lifted up and closed around his face, forming a mask with hollow eyes, the Adversary's perfect face jutting from the mouth. He grinned and there was a flash of light in the mask's eyes.

A wave of concussive forced washed over Shinji, hurling him back through the channel that the previous attack melted in the ship itself. He was on his feet and took the next hit in the shoulder, a flash of light filling his vision as the burst slammed into the very structure of the ship, dragging an angry groan out of it.

He dug his fingers into the molten metal to take the next blast, shouldering into it. Slowly, one foot in front of the other, he pushed forward, shrugging them off. The Adversary changed again, his body warping. His arms grew longer, his body narrower, his legs thin and knock-kneed. He lurched forward, his huge green eyes wide as fanged mouth opened. Shinji felt a faint pang of recognition as he turned the Adversary's charge, grabbing him by the shoulders.

"You're coming with me," Shinji said calmly, "you're going to release the souls you've stolen."

"You sound so certain," the Adversary rasped. "I'll die before I submit to you."

"No," said Shinji. "You're not going to die. I won't let you."

He looked up. It was one of the first things he learned, after he discovered the flight and the super-strength. He tensed just the right muscles in his eyes, and whatever it was that let him see the entire spectrum folded on itself and send beams of heat lancing out of his eyes. Here, in this place, he used his ability to its full potential.

"Let's take this outside."

The hull of the ship did not simply melt. It vaporized. He lifted up, dragging the Adversary through the plume of vaporized metal as the superheated gas and the atmosphere of the ship howled into the void. As he dragged the Adversary through the rent in the hull, the howling sound died in his ears, replaced by the cloying silence of the vacuum.

The Adversary rolled across the hull, scrabbling for purchase. Shinji stood over him, his fists on his hips. Rising, the Adversary grinned at him, clenching his razor teeth. No more banter, no more discussion. Shinji wound up and threw a punch, so hard he felt something snap, not in himself but in the universe around him, as if the fabric of space-time itself warped from the speed of his fist. The Adversary caught the blow in the chin and turned, shattered teeth flying out of his mouth, and bounced along the hull, each tumbling impact sending plates of plasteel hurling off into space.

Shinji ran and flew for him, grabbing him under the arms, and dragged him to his feet. The core thrummed in his chest, cycling faster and faster as he snapped his head back around, spat out his remaining teeth and others grew in their place, a look of mad defiance twisting his features, his solid green eyes wide. Shinji lifted him up and pounded him face-first into the hull, again and again, and still he scrambled.

The Adversary threw his arms wide and his core flared, blazing energy lancing out in every direction. Shinji blocked his eyes with his arm, weathering it calmly as it liquefied the hull and rolled it back until it cooled, drooping inwards. He seized his enemy and pulled him around.

The rest of the fleet was tearing itself apart. The other ships were pounding one another, hurtling through the void firing glittering beams and heavy shells at one another. One of the biggest ships, not far from where they stood, was starting to fold in half as the fire from the other ships concentrated on her midsection, doing more and more damage every second.

Shinji felt the Adversary's chest pumping under his arms. It took him a moment to realize that it was laughter.

He lifted up and dove back down through the hull breach, diving until he hit the half-melted deck and plowed through it. He pushed through deck after deck, the bulkheads and struts screaming as he shouldered them aside, until he let go and the Adversary's momentum carried him into the last deck, folding it around him as he came to a stop.

"Give up," said Shinji.

"No," the Adversary rasped. "You'll run out of power without your yellow sun eventually, and then I'll kill you."

He seized the Adversary's hair and lifted him up. His fingers slid across the beast's chest, and he winced as he pushed them through his flesh, grunting from the effort.

"I shouldn't have played you," it rasped. "I should have just knocked you out and killed your skinny bitch and the little parasite growing inside her."

"Be quiet," said Shinji, driving his fingers deeper. He felt the core, burning hot.

"You're wrong," the Adversary rasped, "Your whole existence is wrong. You can be good because you have it so easy."

"I know," said Shinji.

"What?"

"I know other people feel hunger and fear and pain, and it holds them back and makes them do evil things. I know I have it easy, in some ways. The difference between me and you is that I don't use my suffering as an excuse to be vain and cruel for the sake of it."

He closed his fingers around the core. "The difference between you and me is that you blame people for what they are, and I love them for what they could be."

He pulled.

The Adversary screamed. He clawed at Shinji's throat, clenched his teeth, sputtered and cursed, thrashing his legs and arms against the bulkhead as Shinji gently drew the core out of his chest. A horrid sucking sound accompanied it, as the core pulled to the surface, trailing streamers of pale, bloodless flesh.

"All that, and you're killing me."

"No. I have to crush it to kill you. We both know your body is just a construct. This is the real you."

The Adversary smiled softly to himself. "You-"

With one last pull, it came free. The Adversary slumped against the wall, his eyes glazing.

Shinji held the core in his hands.

"I know you can hear me. I'm going to set everyone in there with you free, and leave you alone forever. You deserve worse, but it's not for me to make that choice."

He blinked away the tears.

"If anyone else can hear me, you're going home."

He tucked it under his arm, and he flew.

* * *

Shinji's radio crackled.

"Extraction wave incoming!" Ironhide bellowed.

He didn't need to be told. He could hear them rumbling through the corridors. They were close, now. Hikari bashed in another door with her hammer and he raced forward, skidding to a stop. Hikari paused beside him, grimly. The doors to the prison were already open, and they were rusted away into nothing. A trail of corruption ran from one end to the other. He stepped inside.

There were so _many_ of them.

He wasted no time. He ran from cell to cell, blasting the locks out with his gauntlet emitters while Hikari did the same, knocking the bars apart with Mjolnir or simply yanking them loose with her bare hands. Some of the Asukas stumbled out into the cell block, looking around in disbelief as if they expected another torture.

Some of them couldn't walk.

Shinji opened his helmet. "We're here to get you out of here. It's over."

"He speaks the truth," Hikari called.

Ironhide rolled in, followed by Ratchet and Hound. Ironhide's doors opened and the Hunter and his Rei emerged.

"Where's my Asuka?" he demanded.

"I haven't seen her. Try the Apothecarium," said Shinji.

The Hunter nodded. He turned to Rei. "Stay here, cover them."

Rei eyed him.

"I'm coming back."

He didn't sound so sure of it.

Shinji covered the door, crouching as another boom rattled the ship, sending shudders up his legs. The Asukas who could walk were piling into the Autobots. Hikari picked one up, a pale-haired girl with golden eyes and a missing leg, and carried her over to Ratchet.

Shinji activated his radio. "Iron Shinji to all points. Recovery wave is go. We'll be on our way in less than five."

One of the Asukas grabbed his shoulder plate. She was older than the others, her hair mostly gray, her lined face a mask of worry.

"My children! _They took my children!"_

Shinji blinked.

_God._

"Mari! Are you reading me?"

"Yeah!"

"Any chance we can delay the warp drive thingamabob?"

"I'd like to say yes but there's a million of these things. We're going to be lucky to pull this off at all. Why?"

He looked at the Old Asuka. "Nevermind."

He was glad she couldn't hear him under his helmet.

* * *

Shinji doubled over, grunting, blood streaming over his lips. He'd fixed the girl on the table and she was standing in a daze, clutching her sheets around herself like a dress. When he turned his gifts to the other, the vampire, something happened. He wrenched his hand out of her gasp, his face a mask of fear. His wound reopened and dark blood stained his lips as he stumbled away, drawing something out of her. He was grunting as it washed over him, a black, vaporous mass of tentacles that lashed out at him, trying to invade him through his nostrils and mouth. Asuka raised her hands to burn it away.

"Look out!" the vampire screamed.

She felt a lancing pain in her side and turned. Doctor Ikari pushed her aside, drawing the long knife from her flank, stained with her blood. She felt a spreading warmth on her side and touched it, pulling back a hand covered in almost black blood. She turned and reached for the fire but he moved viper quick and snapped the hand holding the blade and it plunged into her shoulder. She screamed and fell back, stumbling against the table.

He crouched and looked at her wound, pulling down his doctor's mask.

"Oh, that's not good. The blood is black, which means I stabbed you in your liver. You have about twenty minutes to live. Twenty very painful minutes."

Shinji stumbled, raised the black mass over his head, and hurled it. It hit the Doctor like a bag of sand and bowled him back, throwing him into the wall. Shinji started towards her and slipped. He was deathly pale and when he fell down, he could barely get up on his hands and knees.

The Doctor thrashed. The black ichor swirled around him, and he stopped struggling. It flowed into his nose and his mouth, as if he were taking a deep breath, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were a dark red, the irises the color of fresh blood. He reached into his mouth with a finger, testing his teeth, and drew them back with a wince.

"I never supposed I'd be a vampire queen. Fitting, really."

He stalked towards them, stopping to scoop up his knife. He looked at Asuka, the former vampire. Hikari and Mari twitched, their eyes glazing over, and they seized her by the arms.

"You are what you eat," said the Doctor.

Asuka blinked. Another Shinji stepped through the door. She'd seen him before, back home. He was older and he was scruffy, with long hair and a growth of unkempt stubble that reminded her of that Kaji man, her Latverian contact. He had a chainsaw slung over his back and a sawed off shotgun in his hand. He pointed it at the Doctor's face.

"Eat this."

The volume of the blast shocked her. The Doctor caught it in the face, rolled up and over the table, and landed in a scramble on the other side. By the time he was getting up, the Hunter had reloaded, aimed into his side, and pulled both triggers again. Bloodless flesh blew out from his side as his lab coat shredded apart. He flicked the gun open, tipping it so the ejected shells went over his shoulder, slapped two fresh ones into place, and snapped it shut. As the Doctor got up, he put both barrels into his knee and pulled the trigger.

He glanced over his shoulder. "Get out of here. Now."

"_Shinji!"_ the former vampire screamed, struggling with her former thralls.

Asuka rolled, leaving a trail of dark blood on the floor. She flopped over and her palm landed on Shinji's hand. She had to grit her teeth to focus. She couldn't give him much. It was enough.

When her wound closed, it _hurt._

"Sorry," Shinji rasped, clutching his side.

She grasped his hand harder. "Fix yourself."

"I can't," he murmured as she pulled him onto her lap. "I'm too tired."

"No," Asuka snapped. "I am Asuka von Doom and I do not give you permission to die."

She kissed him.

His eyes flew open. He jerked, spasming in pain as his would closed again, and she pulled him to his feet. She tentatively let go of his hand.

"Are you alright?"

"I think so."

He looked at the vampires holding the other Asuka. He raised his hand and sighed.

"Vampires. Lots of blood. Lots of iron."

They quivered as their arms pulled away.

"Get the others and run," Shinji grunted, "I can't hold them forever."

Asuka nodded, gathering up her doppelgangers, grabbing their hands. She pulled them along, and Shinji followed. She heard another cracking boom, and a moment later, the sound of a chainsaw revving up, a loud snarl that reverberated through the halls. Asuka pulled the others along as Shinji stumbled behind them, clutching his side. They turned the corner to the cells.

A rolling convoy had formed, carrying the other Asukas out of the cells. Hikari turned and rushed to them, her face a mask of relief.

The Asuka that had been on the operating table saw the Shinji in the miniature Unit One and all but screamed his name, running towards him. He saw her and flipped his helmet open, shouting ecstatically.

She slapped him. Then she kissed him. Just once, on the cheek. He lifted her onto the back of the big red van and it rumbled off while yet more vehicles pulled up.

The Hunter calmly walked out of the infirmary.

"What happened to the Doctor?" said Shinji.

The Hunter strapped his chainsaw to his back and shrugged. "He had to split."

"Hikari and Mari?" the ex-vampire asked, softly.

He shook his head.

She sobbed. "Oh _God_."

He grabbed her in a fierce embrace, tears streaming down his eyes. "No, baby, it's my fault. I let that thing get you. I'll never let you go again."

"Hey," Iron Shinji shouted, "I hate breaking up the reunion and all, but let's get the hell out of here."

Mari pressed up against the wall, wedging herself between two struts. She could hear the thing coming, and her radar picked it up, a huge blip leading a number of other blips towards her. She ducked out and peeked around the corner.

Lumbering towards her was a huge construct, so big it filled the hallway. It shuffled forward on stunted legs, its armored body oversized, with a tiny helmet set in its chest. One arm was an enormous claw, six slicing fingers wreathed in crackling lightning, while the other was enormous cannon multi-barreled cannon. When it spotted her, it swung around and opened up, the barrels blurring as they spun. Heavy shells ripped through the air and she scrambled from the corner as they cut right through the wall, sawing towards her.

The Hulk waded into the burst of shells like rain, _ripped_ the section of wall away with his bare hands, and stood there as the rest of the Astartes opened up behind the walker, puffing his chest out as the heavy shells thumped across his skin and the bolter fire burst all around him. He bellowed so loud Mari's armor compensated, and even then it hurt her ears and drowned out the thunderous gunfire. He charged.

The walker swung its claw-arm around and scraped it across the Hulk's chest. It may as well have been hitting him with a wet newspaper. He seized the mechanical arm in one hand, ripped it loose in a single motion, spraying oil and what looked like blood everywhere, and bashed the walking machine down with it. When it turned to fire on him point blank he shoved his fingers in the spinning barrels and the sudden intrusion ripped them apart, sending shrapnel and flying chunks of motor everywhere. With another roar he lifted the entire machine from the floor and with a bounding step hurled into the squad of Marines. It bounced over them and rolled to a trashed heap.

Mari ran around the corner, screaming at the top of her lungs, and opened fire with her hand repulsors. Toji rolled next to her on glowing green motorcycle that looked like something out of a bad post apocalyptic video game, festooned with goofy ray guns. Ritsuko rode behind him, clinging to his waist, while her freaking cat bounded along next to them, leaping into the fray.

Mari ducked a sword swing, turned around, and blasted the Marine who swung it at her in the face. He stumbled, his helmet dented in, and ripped it off. His face was a mass of scars. One eye was all red, as though all his capillaries had burst, and his teeth were filed to sharp points. He'd carved a rune in his cheek, a stylized skull, and the wound was still bleeding.

A green fist as big as her chest mashed him into the wall and he stopped moving. Mari grabbed the sword, surprised by how heavy it was even with her armor helping, and charged, swinging it wildly. It cut wherever it touched, biting through wall and heavy armor with equal ease.

Alpharius walked calmly behind them, stopping to plink with his bolter every few steps. Each shot dropped a Marine, a perfect head shot.

Mari checked her schematics. They weren't far now.

The Hulk was in a rage, bellowing incoherently and rolling forward, leading the way. The Astartes turned and ran when they saw him, firing past each other to cover their retreat, but that only made him madder. One of them lurched around the corner with a long cannon slung in front of him and opened fire. Some sort of energy beam. He aimed past the Hulk and would have hit Mari if Toji didn't raise a shield in front of her. By the time she knew what was happening, the Hulk had seized the Astartes' weapon and was beating him with it, knocking him around the corridor like a baseball. He threw it down, bellowed, and charged deeper into the ship.

Mari skidded to a stop. Toji pulled up, and Ritsuko's cat leapt onto her shoulder. There was an enormous door in front of them, the sensors in Mari's suit telling her it was five feet thick, at least. There as a panel next to it, and she headed towards it.

"We need to get this door open."

"Hulk open door," said the Hulk.

Mari jumped back, yelping, as he shouldered into it. The whole ship seemed to shake from the impact, and when the door didn't have the good graces to just fall down, he got even angrier, pounding it with his fists, each unsuccessful hit driving him into more of a fury. He reared up, raising both fists like an ape.

The door blew in at them.

Mari ducked behind the Hulk as the ruined door rolled over his shoulder and clanged to the floor, staggering him. The daemons came in a flood, so many of them they looked like a mass of bloody red limbs, flaming red eyes and bronze claws. The Hulk roared, half in rage and half in glee, and waded into them as Mari kicked on her boot jets and jumped back to the others.

"What the hell is going on?" she shouted.

"They are abominations," said Alpharius. "Kill them."

Mari opened fire, spraying repulsor bursts into the oncoming throng. Without the Hulk they would have been overrun in a second, but he was less a dam and more a rock on a shore as they tide rolled in, the daemons parting around him to charge everyone else. Alpharius slung his bolter and activated his sword.

"For the Emperor!"

"For Oa and Earth!" Toji shouted.

He rolled forward, gunning the engine of his green machine. Blades unfolded from the wheels and an elaborate contraption constructed itself over his head, a weird mixture between a helicopter and some kind of medieval murder machine, spinning spiked flails around his bike, Ritsuko screaming as the cat jumped off her shoulder and went berserk, spinning through the air. It grabbed a daemon in its teeth, spun around, and hurled it through the wall.

There was a shudder throughout the ship, something deep in its bones that made the whole world quake. Mari turned around, her back to the Hulk, and her eyes widened. Some kind of darkness flowed around them, slithering over the walls and the deck. The Astartes that lay behind them coughed and sputtered, and one by one they started to get up, dragging their weapons behind them. They raised their swords and bolters and brought them to bear on Mari.

Something happened. They stopped in a line, their helmets dented in or pockmarked by holes from Alpharius' bolter, their lurching bodies broken in a dozen places by the Hulk's wrath. The daemons shivered, and a whole knot of them charged past Mari, raising their blazing brass swords and chittering war cries in an alien language that hurt her teeth when she heard it. She blinked.

They were fighting _each other_. The dead Marines stomped forward in a line, utterly silence, and opened fire, wildly, not seeming to aim at her or the others but not particularly seeming to care if they scored a hit. Others pulled out their knives or raised their sword and slowly walked into the oncoming mass of daemons, ignoring their brass blades as they bit through armor. Every time one of the Astartes was wounded, a rancid stench rolled through the hallway, until her armor filtered it out.

The corridor turned into chaos. Mari checked her chronometer. They had to keep moving.

"Hulk!" she shouted, blinking at her HUD to turn her external speakers all the way up, "Plow the road!"

The Hulk glanced at her, grinned, and started stomping forward, raising his foot. Each impact shook the floor and the walls around her groaned, the struts in the walls buckling from the impact. He threw his arms out wide and charged, bowling over the daemon, stomping on them. Toji rolled over the ones he didn't finish off, as Mari and Streaky dropped the rest. The cat was a spinning ball of fury, zipping through the air, biting off their damned heads.

"Remind me not to make that cat angry," Mari said absently to herself.

Alpharius appeared next to her. Somehow, she'd lost contact with him in the madness.

"How much time?"

"We have five minutes and then we have to get out of here."

He nodded and stormed forward, hefting his huge bolter in one hand and his sword in the other.

Mari checked the schematics again. They should be running into…

As she skidded past the corner of the hall, her jaw dropped. Even the Hulk was staring, although he was also crushing a daemon to death in either fist at the same time. These must have been the warp engines.

The space before them was vast, bigger even than the hangar. Mari marveled that such a thing could even be built. The drives themselves, enormous masses of machinery that would dwarf event he largest terrestrial construction, towered high overhead. They were wreathed in crackling energy, and there was something wrong with them. Fungal growths covered the surface, and mushrooms the size of trees rose in clusters from joints in the system. The suit warned Mari that the atmosphere was nearly toxic; neither the Hulk nor the cat seemed to care, and Toji and Ritsuko were protected by his ring.

"What do we do?"

"We must charge the engines and jettison them," said Alpharius.

"What does that do?"

"It will create a warp storm that will most likely destroy the entire fleet."

"How do we do that?"

"I know the necessary rites. This way."

Alpharius led the way. Mari set the armor to record, taking a visual record of everything she saw, and swept her gaze around. The daemons pooled at the edge of the corridor, as if something about the drive frightened them, chittering and snarling. She could hear the stomping footsteps and rolling bolter fire of the dead Marines behind them.

She followed Alpharius up a long set of stairs. The whole place was like a cathedral or a church. There were statues on the damned walls and elaborate reliefs everywhere, but they were broken and defaced. The whole place was littered with corpses in red robes, all of them festooned with crude looking cybernetics.

"Cover me," said Alpharius, working at the control panel.

Mari turned around. The daemons were losing their fear, edging closer.

Alpharius turned. "It is done. In ten minutes, this ship and everything near it will be drawn into the Immaterium."

"Let's go," said Mari.

"I'm afraid not."

She froze. "What?"

"The panel must be defended. The process can be aborted, at least for now. By the time is has reached the point of no return, everything in this room will be destroyed."

"Then let's go!"

"You must go. I will stay. I must complete my mission. Iquarius and the Second Legion will not return."

"But-"

He leveled his bolter at her face. "Cooperating with you is not part of my mission parameters."

"Okay, then," Mari said, raising her hands as she backed away. "Good luck."

"I do not believe in luck," said Alpharius.

Mari ran down the long staircase, using her gauntlet repulsors to stabilize herself. The daemons were starting to flood into the room, either overcoming their fear or consumed with bloodlust or driven by the undead Marines, or all three. She looked over her shoulder, and saw they were flooding in from the other side. Alpharius opened fire on them from his perch.

"Hulk!" Mari shouted, "We need go back!"

"Back to big ship?"

"Back to big ship!"

"Hulk go back to big ship!"

He turned and roared into the corridor, crashing into the onrushing daemons like a wave. Mari wished all men were that easy to manipulate.

* * *

The hangar had gone mad. Thunderous booms washed through the great space as Astartes flooded in from every direction, and stepping over them, giant robots. The defenders formed a perimeter around the ship, using downed vehicles, crates, debris, anything that could deflect gunfire as shields. Asuka, the Emissary of the Amazons, stood on an overturned Land Raider, raising her glittering sword to signal the charge. Behind her, a breakout surged forwards. They had to link up with the returning waves of the rescue mission while holding the hangar.

The air overhead was a startling cacophony of light and sound. Decepticon jets screamed at the hangar, chasing or chased by Green Lanterns. Mari had signaled that they had about ten minutes before the entire ship was destroyed. The deck vibrated as Devastator walked, grappling with Rei in her emerald Eva, their battle scattering the smaller enemies under their feet.

Misato swung from the ceiling, kicking her feet into an Astarte's helmet, while Superman of Earth 1 plucked a bolter shell out of the air with his fingers before it stuck her back. She turned to thank him, the symbiote shifting against her skin, but was silence as he grabbed her and turned. Megatron brought his fusion cannon to bear on them and the burst rolled over Shinji's back, driving them into the deck.

"Decepticons!" he cried, "Take that ship!"

"Megatron!" Prime boomed, haloed in the light of his ring. "Surrender!"

"Never!"

"Listen to me, Megatron!" Prime shouted, grappling with him. "This ship is doomed."

"And so are you!" Megatron cried.

"So be it," said Prime.

Ben Grimm shoved a Rhino onto its side, ripping out the transmission with his bare hands, and shoved it forward, using it as a shield.

"Forward!" Asuka the Amazon cried. Steve Rogers ran beside her, and when a line of Astartes charged them with snarling chainswords, they linked shields, as Spartan warriors of old, and charged.

The Old Man calmly walked through the chaos, firing a rifle.

Asuka of Earth-2 grabbed his arm. "You should be inside."

He gave her a stern look. "These frakkers are _shooting_ _my ship."_

An Astartes bearing a snarling chainaxe reared up over the wrecked and brought it down. Asuka casually caught the blade in her hand, the motor shrieking as her palm stripped the teeth. She crumpled the mechanism in her fingers, yanked it out of his hand, and rammed her open palm into his chest. His ceramite shattered and he turned end over end as he spun away from her. She put one hand over her belly.

"That's _it! I have had enough off this!"_

She surged into the air, spinning. Beams of heat lanced out from her eyes, carving red-hot channels across the deck, slicing through everything they touched. She landed in a crouch.

The old man dropped his mag, slapped a new one into place, and racked the charging handle. "You should do that more often."

* * *

Shinji ran ahead of the Autobots. Hikari moved like a sprinter, her feet barely seeming to touch the ground. The deck was shaking under his feet, and he could hear groaning and explosions from every direction, rolling through the very structure of the vessel. His radio crackled.

"This is Mari! Mari to all points! We have less than ten minutes to get out of here or we're all dead!"

He turned to Hikari. "Punch it!"

Shinji kicked on his boot jets and took off. Hikari whirled the hammer and threw it, catching the strap at the last moment, and was pulled off her feet. Somehow, it turned in the air, pulling behind it. He saw Sue Storm and the others holding the corridor entrance. Beyond them was a mad house. The entire hangar was a battlefield.

"Computer!" he shouted, "Max burn!"

The sudden burst of acceleration shoved him into the suit, compressing his spine, and he grunted. He rolled as he left the corridor, ducking a blast from a heavy weapon. He nearly hit the ground, turned hard, gritting his teeth, and saw stars in his eyes. A walking coffin was firing at him, tracing his movement in the air, until Hikari leapt up and came down, dragging the hammer through it until the head slammed into the deck, cratering it. She leapt into the air, raised it high, and lightning arced from nowhere, gathering in a halo around the head. Thunder followed after it, rolling through the hangar.

Shinji shouted into his radio. "We need cover! Rescue wave incoming!"

Green Lantern Rei turned from grappling with a giant robot made out of smaller robots. Shinji blinked, shook his head, and came in for a screeching landing. As if she were done toying with her foe she turned, shoved it away, and raised her arms as if cradling a rifle. A positron cannon formed from emerald light in her Eva's hands, and she fired, pummeling the machine's chest with explosive bursts. She leapt forward, the Eva unfolding as she discarded it, and landed in a crouch. She spread out a shield from the corridor to the _Galactica_, shells and lascannon fire skimming off of it. She held the wrist behind her ring with her other hand, clenching her teeth.

Shinji looked back. The Autobots rolled forward, bouncing over the debris. He snapped his head around and looked forward. They almost had a clear path to the ship, a short run and they were free. He started forward.

Something came around and hit him in the chest. Red lines ran through his display. Structural damage. He rolled over, just barely avoiding the strike of a long, chitinous claw. It rammed into the deck plating and pulled up a whole section of it. Shinji used his repulsors to push up onto his feet and ducked as the plate went flying by his head. It scraped his shoulder and spun him around.

The Suzahara thing loomed, twice as big as he once was. Bulging flesh, the livid color of a bruise, stretched from within the joints of his armor, which had welded itself to his body. His left arm was a multi-jointed claw, like a scorpion's tail, and the side of his face was torn open, a great sore around an insectoid mouth full of fangs and a long feeler, tipped with sharp, needly fibers. Shinji stumbled back, barely avoiding another swing, and blasted the creature in the face with his repulsors. It scraped at its eye with its right hand, but ignored him, lurching forward.

Shinji leapt over it, boosting his leap with his boot jets, and came down on the other side. As he the creature turned he raised his AT-Field, turning the blow, and got in close, within the sweep of the great chitinous arm. He clapped both hands on the thing's head.

"This is for Toji."

He channeled the suit's power to the gauntlet emitters and fired. The burst threw him back and the creature stumbled, falling to one knee. Shinji landed on his back and skidded across the deck, coming to rest against an upturned tank's treads. The creature got up, lurched forward, and moved towards him again. Its head was a bloody ruin, but was already cracking and slipping back together, fresh plates of chitin forming over his face.

Toji stepped in front of him. He faced the monster down, holding his ground. When it swung its claw at him, he caught it on his shoulder and still stood his ground, his feet locked to the deck. He grabbed the claw and held on for dear life, the creature straining to break free.

Toji grunted, and something happened. The deck under him rattled. The creature tried to pull away, but now _it_ struggled, unable to loose itself from his grasp. It slid towards him even as it dug its booted feet into the decking, ceramite scraping and sparking. Toji lifted the mutated arm and closed his eyes, in deep concentration. The arm buckled, and the creature screamed. It compressed on itself, its body drawing into the small mass concentrated between Toji's hands. It lurched, its armor shattering as it drew nearer.

Shinji looked away.

When he looked back, Toji was holding a small ball in his hands. He tossed it away, and somewhere there was a loud _thump _and a wet slap.

"I've been practicing."

Shinji was on his feet. He turned back to the convoy. "Go! Go!"

He got out of the way as they raced past.

The pressure was building. More Astartes poured into the hangar, like ants returning to their colony, so many they moved in tight clusters, shoulder to shoulder. Shinji heard his radio crackle but something was jamming it, but when he looked to the other end he saw Mari's team carving a path back to the ship. They had to get out, and they had to get out now. He waited for the last of the convoy to pull up behind and head for the ship before he started to move. Toji ran and jumped up onto the side of Ironhide, holding on by the door handle.

Everything was chaos. He'd taken damage to his suit and his radar was going crazy. Every part of his sensor suite was hitting the max, turning into a useless blob. All he could do was make for the ship, occasionally spotting Hikari leaping through the air and hurling her hammer or Superman rocketing overhead. One of the Decepticon jets wheeled for a strafing run of the convoy until the Lanterns knocked it out of the sky.

As he ran, he signaled for the others to fall back. He saw Mari running towards the pod. Her suit was covered with dents and pock-marks and she'd dropped her helmet, her ponytail flapping behind her as she ran. The Hulk crashed into the line of advancing Astartes and rammed the back, joined by Asuka from Earth 2 and Asuka the Amazon.

There were too many. There were _thousands _of them.

The Maximals fell back from their cover.

"This is it!" Rattrap shouted, "Everybody out of the pool!"

He was almost to the flight pod. The convoy was rolling in. He looked around in a daze. The ship was even more of a wreck than before. When he saw Mari he opened his helmet.

"Glad you made it!" he shouted.

She started to say something but ducked when there was an explosion.

"How much time?"

"Less than five minutes! We have to go _now!"_

Shinji jumped up on a ruined vehicle. There was a _sea_ of Marines advancing on them, a rolling tide of crimson and brass that covered the hangar from wall to wall. He looked around. A few stragglers were pulling into the pod.

Asuka grabbed him with one hand and wheeled him around, sheltering her pregnant belly with the other.

"Where is my husband?"

"I don't know!"

"We're not leaving without him."

"We can't stay here."

She growled at him.

The roof melted.

Earth 1 Shinji looked up, his face a mask of awe. His counterpart blasted through the roof of the hangar, followed by a rolling mass of molten metal. He swept around the entire hangar, moving so fast he was just a blur. The Astartes rolled back, dozens of them flying into the air like tenpins.

"Shinji!" Asuka shouted, "We have to go!"

He flew overhead and tossed her a red sphere. She stared at it.

"Is this…"

"All of you go," he shouted back. "I'll keep them off you."

Asuka's eyes flew wide. "If you think I'm letting you pull that _bullshit_ on me, you're out of your mind!"

"But-"

Mari cut them off. "We have to go! _Right now!"_

Shinji turned around. "Lanterns! It's go time! Reinforce the ship!"

There was a titanic roaring sound. Shinji turned to see something emerging from the corridor, stepping out into the hangar. It was enormous. Its wings, swaying things of bone and mucous, unfolded wide enough to shelter two dozen men in their span, and when it stood up, it towered over the Astartes around it, their heads barely reaching its knee. It wore armor of broken bone and cracked, dull metal, festooned with rusting chains. Spread across its back was a forest of withered fungi, and a cloak of mold, hanging in a sheet. It raised its horned head.

Iquarius.

In his right hand he raised a broken sword, its dull red crystal fractured by Mjolnir. In the other he bore a rusted sickle, longer than a man his tall. He took a bounding step across the hangar, the impact shaking even the _Galactica. _

He turned on the Crimson Vengeance and slaughtered them. He moved with grim efficiency, impaling his foes on the edge of his broken sword with such force that it lifted them from their feet. The turned on him, spraying him with bolter fire, and he laughed at the pain, a deep, gurgling rumble that sounded like a rotten tree falling.

As he waded into the Astartes a marching horde of them followed behind them, moving in dull, disjointed steps, as though held up by strings and moved like puppets. Their stench was otherworldly. From their armor, thick, oozing corruption flowed, trailing behind them, leaving corrosion and fungoid growths that crept up the walls.

"Let's _go," _Asuka shouted, dragging Superman back into the flight pod.

Shinji followed her. He nodded his head and dropped his visor, and the radio was finally working.

"Everybody check in with your group leaders. If you're not on the ship in thirty seconds we're leaving you behind."

He heard the others checking in and let his mind dull for a bare second before he rushed through the Galactica's flight deck and through the halls, running for the CIC. Mari and the others followed him. Asuka gave Earth-2 Shinji the core back and he held it under his arm. When he finally stumbled inside, panting, he radioed again.

"Group leaders," he said, "Is everybody here?"

He listened as they all called out. He turned to the Old Man.

"Let's get the hell out of here."

The Old Man nodded. "Jumping in three. Two. One."

Shinji pressed his eyes shut.

"Jump."

* * *

There was an explosion. Fire rolled out of the aft section of the _Shikinami _as the warp engines, overloaded and on the verge of bursting with strange energies, tore through the hull and into space. The ship listed badly, falling out of formation, pummeled by lance fire and shells from the _Makinami. _Her sister ship, the _Ayanami_, was on fire, and running out of control through the fleet. It clipped a heavy cruiser, spun her in space, turning all aboard to jelly in an instant from the gravitational forces, as it continued on its course towards the _Shikinami _herself. The _Makinami _changed her course, turning in space, and raked the oncoming Battle Barge with lance fire.

A moment later, the _Ayanami_ struck. Its armored prow crashed through the midsection of the _Shikinami_, shearing her nearly in half. The forward section, now unlimbered, drifted backwards, slamming into the _Ayanami. _The overloaded warp drives burst, and filled the universe with alien colors, a vortex of raw energy that began drawing in everything around it. Like flames, the raw essence of the Immaterium swept over the _Shikinami, _drawing her in. The _Makinami_ did not attempt to escape, but turned her point defenses and heavy weapons on the rest of the fleet.

Weapons fire, lances and glowing tracers, arced everywhere, connecting the ships. Some tried to flee, others, their crews driven into a mad, frothing rage, turned on themselves and lost control, slamming into other vessels as they shot randomly at the other ships, no longer caring which was traitor and which was not. The ships moved inexorably closer, pulled into a tighter and tighter circle, careening into the warp storm as it grew. Those that were slain instantly by the sudden maneuvers or died in combat were the lucky ones.

Unable to maintain her structural integrity, the _Shikinami _began to explode. The first burst came from the magazines along her starboard side, blowing out the decks, including the hangar occupied by the _Galactica_ a moment before. The grand flying cathedral that adorned her back toppled forward. The crucified Eva, once fixed to her hull, drifted lose in space, turning, revealing the statue that originally adorned the ship when she was proud in her service to the Emperor- an angel in white, a gleaming figure of a silent girl in whose name Iquarius' legion took their vengeance.

In the end, he directed his rage against the one who deserved it. Himself.

As the ship collapsed on itself, he walked casually through the corridors, sweeping aside any who still survived as he made his way back to the Apothecarium. He pushed the doors open and fell to his knees. Though the boy had taken her soul, her body remained, pristine and perfect as ever. He planted the broken tip of his sword in the deck and leaned on its crossguard, and wept tears of infected blood.

The ship turned and fell into the warp storm. Crippled or madly warring on themselves, the rest of the fleet rapidly collapsed back into the roiling colors, some firing even as the things of the warp became manifest and rampaged through their crews.

The Second Legion was never heard from again.

* * *

When the Old Man turned the key the ship bucked as her jump drive spun up to the maximum. The deck jerked under Shinji's feet and he lost his footing. Everything around him descended into chaos. He barely dodged a structural I-beam falling towards his head, and jumped to cover Mari, helmetless, as a section of the overhead monitors came down at her. He pulled her around, his armor scraping on hers, and the debris slammed into his back, pushing them both down. All around he heard shouting.

"How bad?"

The Old Man stood up from behind the jump console. "It's not over yet. "We're going in."

A bolt on the floor vibrated, slid a few inches, and slowly started to lift up. Shinji felt his stomach rising, and gradually lifted up from the floor.

Super-Shinji handed the Adversary's core to Asuka. "Stay here. I've got it."

He took off straight up, crashing right through the roof.

"Damn it," the Old Man muttered.

"Is the intercom still working?" Shinji shouted,

The Old Man nodded and he grabbed the mike. "Everybody! Grab on to something!"

* * *

Rei flew beside him, haloed in green light. She looked tired, but in that I'm tired-and-ignoring it way only Rei could. Shinji turned in the air.

"You brake!" he shouted, "I'll steer!"

She nodded and turned. To the glittering light of the structural support from the Lanterns she added her own, a gradually expanding shield that enveloped the ship. She was a mess. Broken in half, only Rei's ring held the two sections together. Streamers of water fell behind her as she fell, the entire nose section caved in during the battle. Hull plating was coming loose and tumbling into the air, and the port flight pod was bent at an odd angle, like a loose tooth, ready to fall off at any second.

Shinji raced under the ship. He found the strongest looking part of the forward section he could, shouldered under it, and pushed up. He couldn't push too hard- the ship would be in pieces if he overwhelmed the Lanterns. He focused on righting her first, rolling the ship by shoving one shoulder harder than the other, and with a mighty groan she rolled. She was starting to slow down.

Next, he had to fix the pitch. She was coming in hard nose down, and beneath them was nothing but an endless plain of stone hard white _nothing_, the Tree far off in the distance. He fought the urge to stare at it, closing his eyes and focusing on lifting the nose of the ship. As he pushed she fought him and groaned. He could feel more shudders, more structural members twisting and breaking. The entire ship was bucking, flexing in the middle.

He didn't have much time. He managed to level her off.

The ship dragged Rei, gritting her teeth as she pulled with her ring while Shinji pushed. He put his feet out and they touched down first, his heels digging furrows in the strange earth. Again he couldn't push too hard, or she would start to turn, or worse, begin to break up and accordion. He looked over his shoulder. The Tree, looming far overhead, was getting closer and closer, with nothing but a wall to protect it.

The ship started to turn. There was nothing else he could do, other than stop her rolling. She came down with a crash, throwing up chunks of the white whatever it was, and bounced, lifting up before coming in hard, digging a trench in the surface. She kept sliding, turning, and he jumped out of the way, taking flight before the nose hit the wall and crashed through it.

Rei fell.

Shinji surged up and caught her. The light of her ring winked out and she toppled into his arms. When she let go, there was a titanic groan, and the ship started to collapse.

* * *

He got up. The ship was a mess. The roof overhead was gone, exposing the alien anti-sky of the Yellow Alien's strange home. Shinji shied away from it and opened his helmet. The Old Man was glaring at him.

"I hope you have insurance."

He blinked. Mari got up.

"I bet the inside of this thing smells like cheese," she muttered, before nearly wiping some oil off her face with her heavy gauntlet, and thinking better of it.

Superman ducked back down through the roof, landing beside his wife.

"Get the Metaflux Capacitor."

Shinji nodded. "Let's go."

Mari grabbed his arm and moved closer.

"Hey," she whispered. "When this over, do you think maybe we could-"

An alarm went off in his suit. His helmet slammed closed. Mari blinked.

"What's wrong?"

His father's voice chimed in his helmet. "Anti-AT Field detected. Spinning S2 core to maximum. Initiating pattern preservation protocol."

A pattern alert appeared on his HUD- not blue or sepia, but _octave_, whatever that meant. He turned around until the arrow was pointing straight at the Adversary's core. He grabbed Mari, hauled her around, but it was too late.

There was a flash. Superman lifted the core and looked into it. Asuka blinked, lifting her arms from covering her stomach to touch it. She exploded in a rush of LCL, splattering across the deck, and Shinji screamed, and he couldn't tell whether it was from himself or Superman or both of him. Superman sank to his knees, clutching the core, shuddering.

Shinji tried to raise his AT-Field. He could at least shield Mari. It refused to extend beyond the planes of his armor.

"No!" he screamed, "God damn it _no!" _

Mari looked at him. "Dad?" she said weekly.

Then she was gone, too.

He couldn't move. Something was pulling all of the power from his backpack power plant. His HUD was going mad.

Superman dropped the core. It rolled away from him and came to a stop. He was sobbing.

"I can do anything," he said softly, "but this."

Shinji closed his eyes. He didn't want to see it.

When he opened them again, LCL was sloshing at his feet, and he still couldn't move. The red liquid slithered across the floor, bubbling up around the core. The red sphere, floated lifted, drawing more to itself. A body formed around it- the outline of a skeleton at first, frozen in crimson ice. He took a few steps, ersatz LCL organs crawling up his legs between his ribs. Muscles spread out from his joints, and over top of them, skin. His eyelids were closed over hollow sockets, until they slowly bulged out and he opened them, crimson and cruel. He looked around.

He gave Shinji a cursory, almost bored glance. He smirked.

Then, he exploded. The world went white.

* * *

_You have been reading_

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

Chapter Five: The Last Battle

_And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man._

* * *

Gendo's eyes fluttered open. He sat up, only to freeze when crippling pain lanced through his side. In the confusion, he seemed to have fallen on a rather large piece of jagged metal. It could been said to have impaled him. He shifted, trying to pull it out. He was dead a hundred times over. Pain was less a burden or even a warning of injury than a reminder that his hell continued. In the end he had to grasp the sharp edge with his unscarred hands and push, slowly dragging himself up the metal shard. Sometimes he lost his grip and slid back down, but in the end he managed to roll off and collapse into a pile of debris. It only took a few minutes for the wound to close, and then he could breathe again.

He looked around. The ship was in ruins, pieces scattered across a debris field that extended for miles away from the Tree.

"No," he muttered, "Oh no, no."

Shinji was perched on an arched strut, twisted into unrecognizable junk by the blast. He watched Gendo with his crimson eyes.

"You could have killed me, too," Gendo said as he scrubbed his hands over his face.

"Where's the fun in that?"

Laughing, he landed lightly on his feet. "I'm going to be God, now. I thought you should be around to watch."

Gendo looked around at the smoking devastation. There was a scrap of red cloth hanging from a jagged section of hull plating. He lifted it up, studying the S.

"Is this not enough? How many more must die?"

"The pain of death is the glory of rebirth," said Shinji.

"You're out of your mind."

"You should talk."

Gendo laughed. "Ha, that's a good one."

"Ah," said Shinji, "nothing like male bonding before you commit omnicide. Shall we?"

Gendo sat down. "I'm not going to give you the satisfaction."

Shinji glanced over his shoulder as he walked away. "Yes, you are."

The little bastard. Gendo got up, limping for a moment until his leg healed itself. He'd forgotten that it was nearly severed, with the more pressing problem of hundreds of pounds of steel rammed through his torso. He had to struggle to keep up as Shinji wove his way through the wreckage. He stopped when he was about to cross the ruined section of wall, taking a deep, superfluous breath.

"I have come so far for this moment. You can't imagine."

"Better than you know," said Gendo.

He walked through the Atrium. The Tree stole his sight. Gendo Ikari had seen things. Before his son became a cruel deity and uplifted him into a cursed immorality he'd seen a lifetime's worth of monstrosity, withstood mind-blasting revelations that had crippled lesser men and led them to insensible dreams of Instrumentality. None of them could compare with this. The mind of man was not prepared to gaze on the entire universe.

It was a good thing he was already mad.

He followed Shinji into the Atrium, secretly clinging to one last, desperate hope that somewhere within the beast was a single shred of mercy. He might see her one more time. Shinji stopped.

"I know what you're thinking, and the answer is no."

Gendo choked back a sob. He trudged across the Atrium, until he saw three yellow aliens, standing before the tree.

"This must be a surprise."

The aliens remained silent.

Shinji stopped, gazing around. "I thought it would be bigger. What I've done to reach this place, this moment, is beyond your imagination. So to speak. It was an amazing game we had to play, I admit. How could I win if someone else made the rules? No matter how much power I amassed, no matter what I did, I could never reach this place because you'd simply imagine a reason why I can't."

He glanced over his shoulder at Gendo. "The only way to win was to lose the game, and in losing, no longer be bound by the rules."

"Now, here I stand, at the Aleph, the single point that joins all point. I'm going to give you a chance, _Charles._ This can end here. I've broken all your toys. There's nothing between me and the path to the Core World, the True Earth."

He crossed the space between himself and the aliens in an instant, simply appearing at his new position. He seized the central alien by the throat, and they all made choking motions, doubling over.

"I want Rei back. _I want her back, now."_

"_You don't realize what you're asking,"_ the alien croaked.

"Don't lecture me!" he roared, hurling them to the floor. "I don't want to hear your philosophy, I don't want to hear your _bullshit._ You _made_ me this way. You took her away, now _bring her back._"

The alien reached out, its spindly fingers touching his chest. They sank through his pale flesh until they touched the core.

"It is done."

He turned around.

Rei.

Gendo covered his face with his mouth. Shinji ran to her, threw his arms around her, sank to his knees and buried his face in her stomach. She stood stock-still, staring at the aliens. Her head slowly turned, looking over the destruction.

"Rei!" he shouted, "Rei, Rei it's me! I did it!"

Her voice was barely a whisper. "What did you do?"

He surged onto his feet. "I saved you. I brought you _back." _

He hugged her, rocking her in his arms. He buried his face in her neck and breathed, drinking in her scent. Still, she didn't move.

"You killed all these people."

"It was worth it," he said, cupping her cheeks in his hands. "I'd do it again a thousand times if I had to. You're the only thing that matters to me. You're the only thing that matters _at all._"

"Fix it."

"What?"

Tears glittered on her cheeks. "Fix it. Bring them back."

"What? No, I need-"

She sobbed. "You killed them."

"So what? We killed people, you and I, together."

"That was different," Rei said, pulling away from his touch. "They wanted to hurt us."

"Rei," Shinji snarled, gritting his teeth. "What's wrong with you? I had to, don't you understand? We were supposed to be together forever, but you weren't there!"

"I am here now. If you love me you will bring them back."

"I… I can't. I need it. I need the power."

"That's not you talking."

"What?"

She touched his face, her cool hands playing over his skin. "We could go home. You can do that. You don't need to go any further. You don't need the power anymore. It's made you into a monster and you'll just get worse."

"I don't understand, I-"

Tears flowed freely on her cheeks. "I was there the whole time, beloved. I saw everything. He wouldn't let me reach you."

"What? Who wouldn't?"

"The Oni System. Shogoki. Unit One."

Shinji's eyes widened. "No, that's not true. We're _allies_. I need my power. I need it to protect you, to make a world you deserve."

"I don't want that. I want to go home."

"You don't understand!"

"I want you to be like you were before," she whispered. "When you would do anything to protect me. It got into your head and changed you. Don't you see?"

"No! I love you, Rei. You-"

"You have to give it up. It'll never let you stop. You have to let it go. I'm here. Now. Come back to me, Shinji."

Shinji breathed hard and doubled over, and then he screamed. When he cried, it shook the Tree, and great silvery leaves broke loose and shuddered to the ground, landing with titanic crashes.

"You did this!" he bellowed at the aliens, "You changed her! Make her like she was! Make her-"

"A puppet?" said Gendo.

Shinji turned back to him, his jaw wide.

Gendo shrugged out of his much-abused jacket and draped it around her shoulders. "I suppose she's on your enemies list now, too. Did you ever love her at all, or did you prize her because she made you happy? Was it a grand romance, or is she just an easy lay? Was it your great love that made you sleep with the Soryu girl? With _Ritsuko?_ Were you imagining Rei when you bedded Katsuragi?"

"You _rat bastard," _Shinji snarled, "How _dare you-" _

"You are a vain, cruel boy," said Gendo. "You're just like me."

"I'm _nothing_ like you!" Shinji snapped, "I… I would… I…"

"There was a time when I would have done what you've done, if it meant I could see my Yui again." He cradled Rei in his arms as she sobbed into his chest. "Now at last, I see the truth. Never once did I consider what she wanted. Never once did I consider anyone else. Never once did I consider _you."_

"What are you saying?"

"I'm sorry."

Shinji barked out a hoarse laugh. "It's too late, _Dad._ Do you think that makes up for any of it?"

"She's right," said Gendo. "We can fix this. Change things. Change our world. You still have the souls, you can free them and-"

"I _mean to_," said Shinji, "When I've erased the prison _he_ built for us."

"Why, so you can build one of your own?"

"Yes," Shinji snarled.

"Stop this, boy."

"Who are you to command me?"

"I'm your father."

Shinji snorted. "You gave that up, remember? When you left me on that train platform. I'm glad you've had your change of heart. It'll make it so much more fitting that you're here to witness this."

"Shinji," Rei pleaded, "Please don't."

"I have to. When it's over you'll understand."

"Whether she wants to or not," said Gendo.

"You know what? Shinji bellowed, "_Fuck you!"_

He rounded on the Tree. He raised his hand. The core in his chest shone like a sun, and he reached into the very heart of creation and choked it.

* * *

Shinji woke up. There was someone banging on his helmet. Everything was dark. He was out of power. When he tried to move, the suit weighed a ton, so he was trapped there in a form fitting coffin, unable to move. The pattern preservation system worked, at least.

Thanks, Dad.

He heard a horrid scraping sound that made him want to clutch the side of his head, but of course he couldn't move. He heard the metallic creak of something bending, and the faceplate of his helmet peeled back. The sweet rush of cold air flared his nostrils as he could breathe again.

The Old Man stared into his face. "Are you going to lay there all day?"

"I can't move."

He sighed. "It's always something, isn't it?"

He jammed the broken piece of beam he was using as a crowbar into another joint and began working it, tilting it back and forth until it popped free. Shinji's arm was loose. He thumped his chest with his bare fist.

"If you get this off, I think I can get out."

The Old Man nodded and started prying the chest plate loose. Shinji managed to get his hand under it and push, grunting as he twisted inside the suit. Finally it bent up, and together he and the Old Man pushed it back until Shinji's left arm was free. From there he had to simply sit up and push with his hands, and his legs slid out of the lower section of the suit. He rolled onto the deck.

He landed face-first in a puddle of warm LCL. He recoiled, coughing, and crawled back up on top of the armor, panting.

"Is it just me?"

The Old Man nodded. "I'm sorry. All your friends melted."

Shinji's eyes narrowed.

"No reason to gild the lily."

Shinji buried his face in his hands.

"Are you going to sit there, or are you going to do something about it?"

"What? What could I possibly do?"

The Old Man shrugged. "Sometimes, you gotta roll the hard six."

Shinji looked at him. "What does that even _mean?"_

"It's from a dice game. It isn't important. You're the only one left. You can either lay there and cry about it or you can get up off your skinny ass and make an effort."

Shinji snorted.

The Old Man reached into his pocket. He pulled out three linked sections of metal, forming a triquerta. The Metaflux Capacitor.

"I have a feeling you'll need this."

Shinji took it and stood up, the boots of his undersuit slipping in the LCL. He put his arms out to steady himself and looked out through the wreckage. It looked like a bloodstain, spread out across the endless white plain, a weeping open sore with the debris forming the core and a wide splatter of LCL staining the ground around it.

"Thanks," said Shinj, "I-"

He was alone.

"Huh."

He started to walk. It took him a while to make his way out of the main debris field, where the remnants of the ship lay in a spread out fan, blown away from the Tree. He finally made it to the wall itself, climbing up through the gap torn in it by the crash or the blast or both. When he made it down to the other side, he froze.

The universe was on fire.

The tree was burning. It groaned, and an entire branch came loose, tumbling through the canopy and landed on the ground with a shuddering boom that rolled through his legs and made him stumble. The branch rolled, the leaves curling like dead spiders as the fire consumed them.

He ran.

The Yellow Aliens were lying in a heap in front of the tree. Their skin was pockmarked with sores, rapidly spreading through their flesh. One of them raised a hand.

Someone was laughing.

Gendo.

"You," said Shinji.

"I should have known," said Gendo.

Shinji blinked.

"Rei?"

She turned away from Gendo's chest enough to look at him from the corner of one red rimmed eye, bloodshot from weeping. Gendo drew his jacket up around her neck.

"What happened?"

Gendo shrugged. "Be careful what you wish for. You might get it."

"Where did he go?"

Gendo nodded at the tree. "There. Everywhere."

Rei sat up. "He's not the enemy. You have to save him."

Shinji didn't say anything.

"Don't do it for him. Do it for her," said Gendo.

"I… I don't know."

"Yes, you do."

He turned around. One of the Yellow Aliens was sitting up.

"What happened to the whole talking in threes thing?"

"There is only one of us now. Because there is no past. No future. You must hurry. I can no longer maintain this space."

"Because he's killing the Tree?"

"Because I am the Tree."

Shinji nodded. "Why me? Because I'm here? Did you pick me because you knew I'd be wearing my suit?"

"No," the alien coughed, "because you are the one who understands loss."

"What? That's ridiculous. You should have picked Superman, or Hikari, or-"

"You understand the Adversary. Only you can. You are better than he is."

"How am I better than anybody? I sit alone in my shitty apartment when I'm not at my shitty job. My whole life is arranged around a dead woman."

"You had your chance," said the alien. "The same as the others. You could have had her back, if you wished, at the expense of everyone else. You chose not to. That is why you are the one to defeat him."

Shinji scrubbed his hand through his hair.

"That, and the suit." The alien coughed.

He snorted. Sighing, he held up the Capacitor. "What does this thing even do?"

"Whatever you want it to. You just need to find him."

"And do what? My suit is ruined. What am I supposed to use, harsh language?"

"You will find a way. I don't know what it is. He knows what I know."

The alien smiled a small, secret smile. "I know what he knows."

"Where is he going?"

"To find the beginning, he must reach the end. The End of Evangelion."

Shinji stood up.

"There is no tree" said the alien.

He gazed into the Tree.

It wasn't a tree after all. Huh.

He stepped forward. The Tree was ringed by a great pit, but when he looked down he saw himself staring back up, saw a reflection of the burning boughs rocking over his head as they threatened to shear loose from the scorched trunk. He lifted his foot and put it out, and when he set it down, it landed on a hard surface, but he wobbled. He was stepping on the sole of his own foot.

He closed his eyes, and he walked. He put his arm out. He felt warmth. He stepped into it.

He pitched forward, opening his eyes as he fell. He sprawled out across a metal grating, blinking. He slowly got up on all fours, then stood up. There were rows of scuffed plastic seats on either side of him. In front of him were rows of poles with handles. On either side were rows of windows, above the seats, but he couldn't see anything through them but a red light.

"Oh come _on._" he muttered.


	6. The Riddle of Steel

The most he could do was lay there for a while. Eventually he got up. Slowly, at first, resting on the palms of his hands, then up onto his knees, and finally he grabbed one of the scuffed plastic seats and pulled himself onto it and flopped there, letting his head smack the window. The dull thud reminded him it was all real, such as it was. He watched the dull, everywhere and nowhere cityscape flitting by, lit by an unmoving red sun.

"I hate this place," Shinji muttered.

At least there were no chibi Shinjis explaining that they're the image of Shinji Ikari in the mind of Shinji Ikari. Or something.

He pitched forward and rested his face in his hands, then scrubbed his fingers in his hair and got up.

"I have a feeling the train isn't actually going to stop."

He walked to the far end of the car, grasping the overhead handles to keep from losing his balance as the floor rolled and jounced under his feet. With every step he tensed, expecting something to leap out at him from the shadows or appear behind him. He stopped at the door.

"So where the hell am I, exactly?"

The door opened. There was a yellow alien on the other side.

"Not in the spaces you know, but between them. This place is a nexus, another physical manifestation of the in-between of reality. These doors lead to many places."

The door snapped shut.

"Great," Shinji muttered, "Very helpful."

He held up the Metaflux Capacitor, and turned it in his hands. It made his head hurt to look at it, like there was no way the three pointed ovals should be joined, yet they were. He didn't have any pockets. He was going to have to find some pockets.

He happened to glance to his left, and there he saw a faded old bag. He crouched and tugged it out from under the seat. He turned it in his hands, feeling oddly familiar with it. His name was stenciled on the top flap. Of course.

He opened the bag, tucked the Capacitor inside, and shouldered it.

He looked at the door. "Open Sesame."

Nothing.

"Open up."

Nothing.

"I command you to open."

Nothing.

"Shazam."

Nothing.

He sighed, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He'd give anything to just get this over with. He wanted to go home, but even thinking about that made it worse. There was no home left to go to.

When he opened his eyes, the door was open. There was a sticky note stuck to the frame.

"Find the door."

He took the note and stepped through.

* * *

His foot landed on white sand, and crunched into it. A chill wind whipped over him, tugging at his sweat-slick hair and tearing a shiver out of him as he folded his arms and grasped the straps of the bag. But for the wind, there was no sound. He turned around. There was no door, no train. Water lapped on the beach off to his left, dark blue in the night. The moon overhead was too big and a pale color, not white bone. Spread across her surface was a rust-red streak, an old bloodstain.

He had to find the door.

He started walking.

Off to his right, there was nothing, just sand dunes. Beyond that he saw rising mountains. He didn't recognize any of them. As he turned he stumbled. There was another moon in the sky, a black moon, solid and spherical and smooth, not pockmarked like the white moon. He adjusted the straps on his bag and kept walking, the sand crunching under his feet and the gentle lapping of the waves the only sound.

Far ahead of him was some kind of a structure. He saw an old, discolored shape sticking up from it, and when he tilted his head and followed the lines with his eye, he realized what he saw- the hand of an Eva. It stuck out at an odd angle, the palm open. There were faint remnants of a light pinkish color clinging to it, but the weathered, corroded surface looked like it had been sandblasted of the reflective enamel outer layers. He broke into a run, jogging up the beach towards the hand. As he rounded the dunes, he saw the rest of it.

The Eva could have been Unit One but he wasn't sure. Half of it was underwater- he could see the rusted tips of the foot armor sticking out from the breakers like the broken pilings of a collapsed pier, and make out the underline of the legs under the water. The rest of it lay propped up against the sand, the head turned to the side and crashed against a rock, the armor broken. Shinji stared at it for a while, and then started to climb.

Finding footholds on the machine's flanks was surprisingly easy. He wedged the ends of his feet into the joints of the armor until he managed to roll onto a flatter part and get up on all fours, grasping the edges of the plates to steady himself until he could properly stand up. Around the middle of the Eva's torso it bent sharply upwards, as though its back were broken. The chest armor was heavily damaged.

Sometime in however long it had lain here, the eyepieces had lost their opacity, and he could see a biological eye underneath, tilted up. He stood there for a time, listening to the waves and staring at it.

"Hello?"

The plating under his feet swayed and he nearly lost his balance. The head shifted slightly, and the eye rolled down to meet his gaze. Shinji steadied himself and felt the rhythmic, slow pace of the beast's chest rising and falling.

"Who are you?" said Shinji.

"**Who are you?"**the Eva rumbled.

"Shinji Ikari."

"**This cannot be. I am Shinji Ikari."**

"It's complicated."

The eye swiveled up, and the Eva's breathing slowed.

"Wait!" Shinji called.

"**What?"**

"What happened here?"

"**I happened." **

"I don't understand."

"**I was given a choice. I took it. I set them free."**

"Who?"

"**Everyone. I was asked what I desired. I said I wanted everyone else to be happy. To be free.**"

"You mean, Instrumentality."

"**Yes. They merged together with Lilith and left his cursed Earth to ****find hope among the stars."**

"Why are you still here, then?" said Shinji, scratching his head. "Why didn't you go?"

"**They were better off without me. I siphon hope from the lives of all who know me. I chose to remain here as a marker, a reminder, a warni****ng should others come. Once, we were here."**

Shinji nodded. "They're not safe."

"**No one is safe. The end is inevitable. Here I will remain until the sun dies, and consumes Earth in her fires. In time the end of all things will find the souls of men, wherever they hide.**"

"That doesn't give you an excuse to just lay here!" Shinji shouted.

"**My back is broken. I have only enough power left to sustain my consciousness. I am only alive because I am afraid to be dead.**"

"Why? How could it be worse than this?"

"**My greatest fear is the knowledge of the soul. I will go on after my death. Wha****t if I end and I am drawn inexorably to the Chamber of Guf? What if I am born again? What if the others live in peace under the warmth of an alien star, and in dying I should find them? Why should they suffer my curse again?"**

"Why do you think you're cursed?"

The great head of the Eva shifted, and a deep rumble came from the chest. Shinji threw his hands out to balance himself. He realized it was laughing.

"**My mother and father loved each other until I was born and I fractured them. Rei was content in ****her desire to return to nothing until I opened her heart. Asuka was at peace in her delusions until I crushed them by beating her at piloting and my feeble attempts to win her attentions. Should I go on?" **

"So you're just going to lay there," said Shinji. "You're going to _run away." _

"**Go away."**

"Why should I?" said Shinji. "What are you going to do, be depressed at me?"

"_**Go away."**_

"Aren't you even curious how I got here?"

"**No."**

"Why don't you give yourself another chance? What are you going to gain by just lying there, doing nothing?"

"**There is no risk in doing nothing."**

"Yes, there is. There's the things you could be doing, but aren't. Maybe the others don't hate you at all. Maybe you just hate yourself."

Shinji turned to leave. "If you're just going to lay there and punish yourself forever, I don't need to bother with you. I have work to do."

The Eva shifted under his feet. It tensed, the upper half lifting. The fingers of the exposed hand swung closed, grating on each other, the ancient joints creaking and popping like an old house in a strong wind. The arm lifted up, streamers of sand tumbling from the joints like water from a leaking roof, and then slammed back down, rolling. The tension went out of it, and the head lolled sharply to the side. Shinji stood there for a minute as it drew a breath, and then went silent.

He sat down and slid across the armor until he found his footing, then slowly started climbing down. When his feet touched the sand he kept on walking, chewing nothing against the tension in his jaw. As he rounded an outcropping of rock, he found a set of doors embedded in it. They opened has he approached, and he stepped through, muttering to himself.

* * *

There was no sand here. Shinji took a deep breath and smelled flowers, so many flowers, a medley of sweet scents that became no scent at all. The earth beneath his feet was rich and black, and soft, almost like a carpet. Trees rose up everywhere, full and lush. He took a few exploratory steps, listening. He heard the chirping of birds. A squirrel peeked at him from behind a tree, and then scurried off into some industry, chattering.

He came to a clearing. Rei sat by the water, which was clear and lapping gently at the shore. Little birds flitted all around her, perching on her shoulders and landing on her fingers. Little fish came to her feet, poking at her toes before slipping off into the pond. Shinji approached her slowly, stepping out of the trees. She looked over her shoulder, but said nothing.

He moved down the slope towards her, and sat down. He put his feet in the water. It soaked through his undersuit and chilled his feet. She had something in her hand, a loaf of bread. She pulled at it, picking little pieces of and throwing them into the water.

This was peaceful. He could stay here.

"Why are you here?" Rei said, softly.

"I don't know," said Shinji.

She held out a handful of crumbs, and birds perched on her fingers, singing and pushing at each other to eat from her palm. "No, I mean, why do you exist."

"The Yellow Aliens said I have to fight the Adversary."

"You don't want to."

"No," Shinji sighed. "I want to go home."

"I see," said Rei. The last of the birds took off, and she turned her hand over, dumping the rest of the crumbs into the pond for the little fish. "You are upset."

"Yeah," said Shinji. He drew his knees up and leaned on them. "Is this Instrumentality?"

"Everything is Instrumentality," said Rei. "It is everywhere."

"Thank you, Yoda," Shinji grunted.

Rei giggled. Shinji sat up.

"You're not Rei."

"No. I am Lilith. The person that is Rei Ayanami is part of me."

"What is this place?"

"It was Tokyo-3, but that is not your question. You wish to know what it is. What is its nature?"

"Yes."

"This place is bliss. Come."

She stood up, gathering her white robes around herself.

"I asked Shinji Ikari, what is your wish?" said Lilith. "He wished for everyone to be happy."

Shinji followed her away from the pond. He stumbled a little when he saw his father. Gendo lay on the grass, staring up into space, his uniform jacket spread out beneath him like wings. The dark gray was faded, and he'd taken on a deep tan from lying in the sun. He was chewing on something, leaves hanging out of his mouth. The strange plant grew all around him, choking the grass in every direction.

Walking on, Shinji saw the others. Asuka lay on her side, curling around, whispering softly as she chewed, crumbs of leaf and spittle staining her chin green. She nuzzled into the plants, squeezing the stems with her hands, her eyes pressed tightly shut.

"Baka," she muttered.

Shinji shivered. That word. What did it mean?

Misato lay on the grass, spread eagled, staring up into space. Her jaw moved slowly, chewing a single, long leaf that draped down over her chin. Shinji's heard drummed in his chest. She was wearing her uniform, her short black dress under a red jacket. Her dress was as faded as Gendo's jacket, three holes torn in the fabric under her bust.

There was something wrong. She was too thin, her chest shrunken and flattened. Even through her clothes he could see her hips poking out, and her knees were wider than her calves. Shinji stepped away from Rei, walking through the grass, and knelt beside her.

"Misato," he whispered, "It's Shinji. Can you hear me?"

Her voice was a low rasp, barely audible. "Hey."

He touched her cheek. She was cold, covered in a fine, chilly sweat. "Are you okay?"

"Uh-huh," she murmured, moving her arms. "Hold me."

Slowly, he lowered himself to the ground. He put his arms around her, resting one across her belly while he slid the other under her, lifting her up. She was too light, like a child, less than that, like a bundle of twigs. He could feel her ribs under his arm and her cheek cut his chest like a knife when he leaned her head on his chest, poking into his slight pectoral muscles.

"Misato?"

"Mmm," she murmured, "Don't go."

Lilith knelt beside him, gathering up her skirts. She plucked one of the long leaves from the ground and offered it to him. "Please, eat. You look hungry."

Shinji swallowed against his dry throat. He _was_ hungry. He couldn't remember the last time he'd eaten. He took a deep breath and his head spun. He fell away, Misato roughly bouncing on the ground, groaning a little before she shifted and settled, chewing harder on her leaf. He felt the way he did the day after they did it on the bathroom floor, when she gave him some wine and they had a little too much and the couch was ruined. He hadn't had a drop to drink since she died.

He took the leaf, stuck it in his mouth, and bit down.

Bliss flowed through him. He kept on chewing, drawing the leaf past his lips like a rabbit munching on cabbage. The ache in his muscles ended, and he lay down in the grass. He shifted until he could rest his head on Misato's bony hip. She was too hard, too thin, but she _smelled_ right, and with the leaf in his mouth nothing really seemed to matter.

Lilith sat down next to him, and brushed the hair out of his eyes with her fingers. She touched his cheek, drawing her finger across it.

"I can be her for a while," she whispered, "if you like."

She leaned down and her pale face was gone, and Misato stared into him. Shinji dared to glance down, following the delicate lines of her neck. He touched her scar, tracing his fingers over the too-smooth flesh that ran right up her midsection.

"Wait," he groaned.

"What is it?"

He blinked. He remembered her. He remembered the taste of that wine on his lips and how the world fuzzed, and when she touched him it was fuzzy too and she was lying on top of him on the couch and there was a woman singing on the television and it was so good just to touch her, and he remembered the way she laughed at his dumb jokes and the orgasmic look on her face the first time she tasted her favorite foods made by his hand and how he wanted to see that look in her eyes forever.

"It wasn't an accident," he murmured. "It wasn't sick. I loved her."

"I'm here," she murmured, resting her head on his chest.

"No, you're not."

He remembered something else. He remembered her pushing him out of the way, the bang as the JSSDF man shot her in the back as she pushed him into the cage. He remembered the red rage as Unit One came to life around him and they became one, more than ever before, and he slammed back through the wall. He'd never taken a human life before that and never did again. He remembered her lifeblood on his hands.

He remembered her funeral, sobbing like a girl into Asuka's chest while she dreamed of lying with him in Misato's place.

"You're not real."

He dragged the leaf out of his mouth, and sat up. Lilith pulled away from him. She looked hurt.

"I know you don't mean to hurt them," he said softly. "Where is he? Shinji."

She stood up and he followed, walking through the clearing. He saw the others. Toji and Hikari were all bound up in each other, lying on their sides holding hands, their legs tangled together, bound by roots. Ritsuko lay face down in the leaves, humming softly to herself.

He found himself lying against a tree. He yanked the leaf out of his own mouth.

"Hey," his counterpart groaned. "What gives?"

"Wake up," he snapped.

"I don't wanna."

He pulled the leaf back into his mouth with his teeth. "Asuka."

Shinji slapped him. "Get up."

"I can't."

He pulled the leaf out again. "Asuka isn't here, you idiot. She's over there. Go find her."

"What are you doing?" Lilith demanded, tugging on his shoulder.

"They're not happy," Shinji snapped, standing up. He waved his arms around. "This isn't happy. Living in a fantasy world is not happy."

"I don't understand."

"Of course you don't," Shinji sighed, palming his face. "You can't. Being happy doesn't mean nothing bad ever happens. You can't be happy _unless_ you're sad."

The other Shinji was getting up. He could barely move. "Rei?"

Lilith moved to him, cupping his cheeks with her hands. "It's alright, Shinji. Just lie down for a while."

"No," he croaked, "Asuka. I wanna see…"

"As you wish," said Lilith, lifting him to his feet.

Shinji turned. There was a tree wider than the others, and between huge roots was a set of doors. He walked towards them.

* * *

He stepped into an apartment.

No, not _an _apartment. _That_ apartment. He took a deep breath, squeezed the straps of his bag. He took a few cursory steps. Nothing happened. He glanced around, looking for a clock, for Pen-Pen, anything, wondering what the hell was going to jump out at him next. He froze when he heard a door creaking.

Asuka.

How old was she? Fourteen? She poked her head out of the door. Shinji shook his head with a start. It was the wrong door. He ducked into the living room, peering around the corner. She was dressed in a long t-shirt, oddly modest for her, or for any iteration of her that he'd ever seen. Her hair was disheveled, thick from sleep and puffed up like a crimson dandelion. He felt a pang of regret, looking into the past of the girl he'd spurned. She was so beautiful.

He sighed. He could have at least tried.

She made her way into the kitchen, and he heard the water running. She stepped out, and he wasn't fast enough.

She ducked around the corner, scowling.

"W-who are you?"

Shinji froze. She was pointing a ray-gun at him. A bulbous ray gun with a pointy little doo-dad on the front and a little projector dish, like something out of a cheesy old movie. Slowly, he raised his hands.

"I'm not here to hurt anybody, Asuka. Just relax."

She lowered the gun a little. "Are you from a parallel universe?"

He nodded.

She raised the gun again, squinting. "Why are you wearing all black?"

"It's fashionable," he sighed. "Were you in Shinji's room?"

"That's none of your business."

He closed his eyes. "Listen," he said, "Go back in his room. Don't worry about someone finding you. Do what you need to do."

He opened his eyes. She was staring at him. "Why?"

"Something bad is happening. If I can't fix it, you should enjoy the time you have left."

Shinji stepped out from around the corner. Shinji tensed.

"Hey," he said softly, "what…" he trailed off, his eyes widening.

Shinji sighed. "Long story."

Misato piled out next. "What are you two…"

"Great," Shinji muttered to himself.

"There's an alternate Shinji from a parallel universe in our living room," said Asuka.

"Were you in Shinji's room?" Misato demanded.

"Did you hear what I just said?"

"Don't change the subject, young lady!"

Shinji's eyes darted around the room. "Uh, can we stop pointing the weapon at me now?"

Asuka lowered it. "What's in the backpack?"

"An artifact of hypertechnology forged from a broken Lance of Longinus with the Hammer of Thor."

"Cool," said Asuka. "Can I see it?"

"Come in the kitchen," said Misato.

Hesitantly, Shinji moved through the living room. He was trembling as he sat down at the kitchen table. It was all so familiar. He pulled off the pack and put it on the table, and was about to reach inside when Misato touched a very normal and very real gun to the side of his head. He swallowed and slowed in his movements, lifting the flap so she could see the Capacitor before he pulled it out and let it rest on the table.

"What is it?" said Asuka.

"It looks like someone broke your Hula Hoop," said Misato.

"It's a thing."

"What does it do?"

"Whatever it does, it's doing it now."

"Can I…" said Asuka, reaching for it.

Shinji shrugged. She picked it up.

It started to glow. She yelped, and dropped it on the table with a clatter. The metal returned to its usual dull grey, and sat there. Shinji rested his fingers on it. It was cold.

"It glows when you touch it."

"What was that thing you were pointing at me?" said Shinji.

Asuka shrugged. "It's a hyperflux transducer. It makes your molecules vibrate."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"Until they explode. I invented it." She beamed.

Shinji blinked. "Okay, then. I guess you're putting that bachelor's of yours to use…"

"I have a _doctorate," _she snapped.

Shinji -the other Shinji- reached under the table and pinched her rump. She rounded on him, gritting her teeth, but there was no heat in it.

"We're with people," Misato sighed.

"How did you get here?" said Shinji.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try me."

He sighed.

Then he told them.

By the time he was done, the sun was up, and they were staring at him. Misato haltingly touched his hand. He pulled it away.

"I… It's better if you don't."

She nodded grimly.

"So you don't know what this thing does," said Misato, picking up the Capacitor. It didn't glow for her. "Maybe it's a weapon."

"If it was, I'd have used it by now."

"I'm sorry to drop all of this on your laps," said Shinji. "It's good to get it all out in the open, though."

Asuka was holding hands with her Shinji under the table. "We could go with you. We've been to parallel universes before."

"You're very brave to offer, but this is my fight, my problem. I won't give him another set of lives to ruin. I should probably get going."

"Wait," said Misato, seizing his arm as he got up. "Eat breakfast with us."

He didn't relax.

"Shinji will cook."

He dropped the bag with the Capacitor on the floor. Shinji cooking turned out to be Asuka cooking with him. They moved together with a steady, easy rhythm, like old lovers despite their age. Shinji was so calm, so confident in her presence. He cracked three eggs between his fingers on either hand, going wild with seasonings while Asuka cooked the meat and made the toast, brushing against him quite on purpose as she passed. In a few minutes there was a steaming plate of eggs and bacon in front of him, and he ate hungrily. Misato cracked open a Yebisu and set it before him and he downed it without complaint, wiping his lips on his arm.

They were so happy.

"I should go," he said as he finished the last triangle of toast. "Thank you."

"Good luck," said Shinji. "I hope the universe doesn't end."

"I'm against that," said Asuka.

Shinji blinked, and then he did the obvious thing. He opened the refrigerator.

Inside was a pair of train doors.

"Wait," said Misato. "Close your eyes."

He did, and just in time for her to take his arm and pull him around. She touched her lips to his in a soft, chaste kiss, but it was a warm kiss and he needed it. His eyes fluttered open and she squeezed his shoulder.

He turned and went through the doors.

* * *

He stepped through the doors and into the kitchen. For a moment, he thought he'd somehow stepped back into the same world, but here it was dark. He could hear the television in the living room and moved towards it, carefully. The last thing he needed was for Misato to come barging out of her room and shoot him in the ass. He crept past the bedrooms and stopped.

He recognized the back of his own head. He was getting too good at that, lately. Sitting next to him was a girl with stark white hair, leaning on his shoulder. He crept around, until the boy noticed him and jumped up. Shinji gestured frantically for his silence.

"Who are you?"

"I'm getting sick of people asking me that," said Shinji.

He looked at the girl. Very Rei-ish, milky white skin and red irises, and white hair. There was a faint mark on her forhead, a birth mark in the shame of the bird-faced plague doctor masks the angels all seemed to have somewhere on her body. She had her bangs brushed down over it.

"I'm Sachi," the girl said softly.

"Sachi?" said Shinji.

"Short for Sachiel," said Sachi.

Shinji's jaw dropped. He heard the door slam and he froze. Asuka walked in, followed by _Kaworu._ No, not Kaworu. He was a little taller, a little more broad-shouldered, though he had that same pale androgyny the boy that had been the final angel had. Asuka folded her arms under her chest.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Who the hell is that?" said Shinji.

"I'm Zeruel. What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"

Shinji screamed and bolted for the kitchen. He yanked the fridge open and ran inside without looking.

* * *

His foot hooked under a root and he felt pain lance up his ankle. He landed with a crash in the dirt, blowing out a mouthful of dust. He managed to unhook his foot from the root, only to realize there was a very sharp blade touching his throat.

"Do as I say or you're dead."

Shinji froze.

"Sit up, slowly."

Very gingerly, he rolled onto his backside and sat up. He was in a forest, surrounded by old trees, sitting in the middle of a narrow, overgrown path. Ahead he could see a low fire and a collection of tents, tarps, and old buildings, some kind of a campsite. He traced the gleaming katana up to the gnarled fist that held it.

"Fuyutsuki?" said Shinji.

The sword moved just a hair, tipping his chin up.

"How do you know my name?"

"You're the vice commander of Nerv."

The man gave him a strange look. "Why do you have a banana on your head?"

Shinji slowly reached up and pulled the mashed up banana from his scalp, and tossed it to the ground with a wet slap. Fuyutsuki gave him an appraising look and took a step back, sword held at the ready. Shinji raised his hands in surrender and slowly got up, wincing when he put his weight on his ankle.

"You look like an Ikari, but none I've ever met. Who are you?"

"I'm Shinji Ikari."

"That's not possible. Shinji Ikari is asleep. Over there. He's also a teenager."

He touched the point of the blade to Shinji's throat. "Truth now, or death."

"It is the truth!" Shinji pleaded, "I'm from a parallel universe and my home was destroyed by another me who's an asshole with a god complex and I've been recruited to fight him off and I led a huge army of other mes and other people but we were tricked and they all died and I have to find him or he's going to erase everything because his girlfriend dumped him."

Fuyutsuki considered that for a moment. "You are either mad, or you are telling the truth."

He sheathed his sword. "I have known those conditions not to be mutually exclusive. Follow."

With an ease that seemed out of place with his age, the shirtless old man led Shinji deeper into the forest. He beckoned him sit around the fire.

"The boy sleeps," said Fuyutsuki. "He is tired from his lessons. Why are you here?"

"I don't know," said Shinji. "I just ran and I ended up here."

"Tell me the tale. All of it."

Shinji sighed. "I just-"

Fuyutsuki tossed him a bottle. He barely caught it, and it ended up in his lap. He picked it up. Whiskey. He wasn't much of a drinker but he took a swig, then passed it back.

He told his tale.

Fuyutsuki listened calmly, quietly, occasionally asking a few short, pert questions. He seemed particularly interested in the mad, frothing Gendo. When Shinji finished, the old man offered him the whiskey again and he took a little bit too long of a pull, and coughed, hard. The old man smirked at that.

"Come with me."

Shinji got up and followed, away from the fire. Off to the side was a sort of long hut, converted from some sort of park pavilion, it seemed. The ceiling was low and it had a sepulchral air that Shinji recognized as the smell of old books, something he connected to Fuyutsuki. Inside was a variety of exercise equipment, all of it very heavy looking.

"The story," said Fuyutsuki. "Queen of the Black Coast."

Shinji blinked. The old man drew a book from his shelves, an old, worn paperback. On the cover was a painting of a hypermuscled man surrounded by women, an axe in one hand and a sword in the other. He flipped it open and held it out to Shinji, pointing to the middle of one of the pages.

"Read," said the old man.

Shinji looked at the book, straining by the light of a candle. He skimmed down the page until one passage caught his eye.

He read aloud.

"I have known many gods. He who denies them is as blind as he who trusts them too deeply. I seek not beyond death. It may be the blackness averred by the Nemedian skeptics, or Crom's realm of ice and cloud, or the snowy plains and vaulted halls of the Nordheimer's Valhalla. I know not, nor do I care. Let me live deep while I live; let me know the rich juices of red meat and stinging wine on my palate, the hot embrace of white arms, the mad exultation of battle when the blue blades flame and crimson, and I am content. Let teachers and priests and philosophers brood over questions of reality and illusion. I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion,"

Shinji realized he was shaking. He drew in a sharp breath.

"…_and being thus, the illusion is real to me._"

Fuyutsuki nodded and took the book back, carefully folding the creased spine before he put it back on the shelf, wedging it between a volume on particle physics and a book called _Warrior Women of Robert E. Howard_.

Shinji's hands sank to his side. "There's something I think I should ask you."

"Speak," said Fuyutsuki.

"What is the Riddle of Steel?"

Fuyutsuki's sword flashed out from the scabbard.

"What is steel, without the hand that wields it?"

He held up his withered hand, flexing the tight, arthritic fingers. "Flesh, flesh is stronger than steel, but flesh withers. Flesh grows weak."

Shinji blinked.

"The will," said Fuyutsuki, "is invincible."

"What does it mean?"

"Find your will," said Fuyutsuki, slipping the sword home. "Find it and you will defeat your enemy. The answer is inside you."

Shinji scratched his head.

Fuyutsuki walked out of the cabin and Shinji followed. The Old Man propped his sword up near a net hammock and crawled into it.

"Leave me alone," he rasped. "It's time for me to die."

Shinji backed away from the campsite, and nearly tripped. He bounced into a set of doors, standing in the woods. They opened as he turned, and he stepped inside.

There was a sticky-note on the door. It said simply, "Do you see?"

* * *

Shinji stepped onto a busy street. In his skintight jumpsuit, skinned in fine wires that resembled hairs with his undersized school knapsack hanging loosely from his back, he earned a few stares. He heard a jingle-jangle and just barely jumped out of the way in time of a bicycle rolling up the sidewalk. The rider gave him a rude gesture.

Another Shinji walked by.

"Hey," said the other Shinji.

"Uh," said Shinji, "Hi."

He turned to follow his counterpart, weaving through the crowd.

"Excuse me," said Shinji.

His counterpart raised his hand. "Hold on a second. I need to time this just right."

Shinji stopped in his tracks. The other Shinji darted into the intersection ahead, ducking between two oncoming cars. He didn't so much avoid them as step between them, as if he knew exactly where they were going to be. He scooped up a little girl standing on the sidewalk and ran.

"Hey!" her mother shouted, running after him. "Put my-"

A garbage truck came screaming around the corner, running out of control. The crowd on the sidewalk parted as it rolled and started to run sideways on one side before toppling over with a tremendous crash. It skipped up over the sidewalk and slammed into the corner of the building, crumbling it.

Exactly where the girl and her mother had stood, a moment before.

His counterpart walked around the truck, dusting himself off. He didn't even bother looking. He stopped in the middle of the street until a motorcycle flew past him, turned, and skidded to a stop, then casually walked back up onto the sidewalk and up to Shinji.

"How the _hell_ did you do that?"

The other Shinji shrugged. "Practice."

"What? No, look. You must have some kind of power, or something. What is it? Radioactive spider? Alien parent?"

He shrugged. "I said, practice. Come on, we have to be at the convenience store in five minutes. I cooked the last of the eggs this morning."

Shinji fell in beside him as they walked. His counterpart put his hands in his pockets and casually strolled, humming some tune to himself. He stopped, looked around, and then started again, until he reached a little market on the corner. Shinji followed him inside, relieved by the air conditioning. He took a deep breath.

"Hey kid," the clerk said, "What's a five letter word for… who's this guy?"

"My cousin from Okinawa," said the Other Shinji. "Say hi, my cousin from Okinawa."

"Hi, my cousin from Okinawa," said Shinji.

"Is that the best you could come up with?" his counterpart sighed. "It was better yesterday."

"Yesterday? What do you mean?" said Shinji. "We've never met."

"You haven't met me," said the other Shinji.

Shinji scratched his head. "Look, I-"

"You're from a parallel universe. Your world was destroyed by the armies of darkness, you gathered an army of allies, and you guys screwed up and now the Absolute Enemy is loose in the multiverse. I know. Ah, here's the eggs."

He opened the case and pulled out a package of eggs.

"Don't you check to make sure they're not broken?"

"I did it yesterday."

"What does that have to do with anything? And do you really eat a dozen eggs a day?"

"No, the eggs ran out yesterday, before yesterday was today."

Shinji crossed his arms over his chest. "Are you some sort of crazy person, or something?"

"I must seem that way. Come with me."

After paying for his eggs, he whistled his way towards the apartment, the carton tucked under one arm. He stopped at all of the intersections and then continued walking without looking, as though he knew exactly when the cars would roll down the street.

"Look," said Shinji. "Do you think you could just level with me?"

"It's simple," said the other Shinji. "The world is going to end tonight. Probably. When you lose to the Adversary the Ut-Instrumentality will roll through my universe shortly thereafter, and everything I've ever known will be erased."

"You, uh, you don't sound very worried about it."

"I'm not. It's already happened about five hundred times. It's taking you a while to figure this out."

"I don't understand."

"Today is today," said the other Shinji, typing in the code for Misato's apartment. "Tomorrow will also be today, just like yesterday was today. I've already met you, and talked to you, and seen the end of the world hundreds of times."

"How is that possible?"

He shrugged. "How should I know? I stopped caring when the first time I had to go through a bunch of repeats."

"If the world is going to end today, why did you save that kid?"

"Are you saying I shouldn't have saved the kid?"

"Well, no, but-"

"Shhh," said the other Shinji. He was checking the mail. "I don't know why I bother. It's never anything good."

He dumped a bunch of junk mail in the garbage. "I have about three hours until Asuka gets home."

"Then what?"

He shrugged. "She'll be tired from being on duty all day. Her neck hurts, so I'll massage it. She'll wash her hair to get the LCL smell out. It never really goes away, but that's okay. It makes her skin very smooth, and I'll tell her that and she'll feel better. Misato is on duty all night, so we'll end up watching TV. I don't know what she'll watch."

"How do you know all that other stuff, but not what she's going to pick to watch on television?" said Shinji.

He shrugged. "Something something, a butterfly instead of sunshine. I can't say exactly. There are always small changes. I don't care what it is. I'll watch anything if she sits in my lap while we watch it. After it's over she'll be a little worried, like something is coming. I'll tell her she's being silly and we'll play fight and wrestle around on the floor and we'll go from there. When the end comes I'll hold her really close to me and tell her that I love her more than anyone in the world. I'm probably going to call Misato after you leave, just to make sure she hears my voice today."

"Uh," said Shinji. "Isn't that kind of… depressing?"

"Yes, immensely. I spent several cycles robbing banks and going on rampages before I figure out that it wasn't anything that I was doing that was causing the repeats. Then, you started showing up."

"So," said Shinji. "_Are_ you crazy?"

"No. I'm enlightened. They kind of look the same, though, I guess."

He led Shinji into the apartment, which was, as he said, empty. He immediately put the eggs in the refrigerator.

"This has happened to you before?"

"Yes, I had to repeat one day over and over until I got it exactly right. The first time was a pastiche of episode fifteen of the anime."

"The what?"

"Don't ask. Look, you want some coffee."

"Don't you mean, 'do you want some coffee'?"

"Well, you do, don't you?"

Shinji blinked. "I guess."

He sat down, and the other Shinji busied himself at an espresso machine.

"I don't remember Misato having one of those."

"It took me a while to convince her. Especially since I have to convince her every day."

He put the cup in front of Shinji. The cream had the shape of a leaf in it.

"Nice leaf."

"Thanks, it's your favorite."

"If you're so powerful," he took a sip, "Wow, this is great. If you're so powerful, why don't you-"

"Stop the Adversary? I can't. I tried a few times, but there's no point. I'm not the one who beats him. You are."

"I am?"

"You'd better be. I've spent about four months cuddling with Asuka in the last day alone. It gets kind of boring if she wears the same underwear every time and I'd rather that not happen to our relationship. I like to keep things spontaneous, like that time I bought a motorcycle."

"You what?" Shinji sputtered.

"I don't have time to go into the details. You're leaving in a minute. You can read about it on fan fiction dot net, if you want."

"_What?"_

He shrugged. "Oh, you don't know. It's funny how it works. When you spend enough time seeing the same thing over and over again, like I have, you start to notice it after a while. Bits and pieces, here and there. Then more and more, until you see it all the time. It's like it's hiding behind everything, waiting to be seen. This is why you're here, so I can say the next part. I can see the prose."

Shinji stood up. "How? Tell me how it works."

"I can point to the moon, but my arm is not the moon. You have to see it for yourself."

"Thanks,"

"…Yoda." He finished, taking a sip from his own coffee.

"Do you do that a lot?"

"Only if I feel like a guaranteed repeat. It really pisses Asuka off."

"I can only imagine," Shinji sighed.

"You're leaving in a minute. Quick, ask me what the Metaflux Capacitor does."

Shinji blinked, then unshouldered his bag and pulled the device out. "Do you know what it is?"

"I know what it is," he sighed, "but that isn't the question. The question is, what does it do."

"What _does_ it do?"

"You already know the answer. You've already told someone else."

"That's not cute, Shinji."

He raised his hands in feigned surrender. "Okay, no riddles. It was made with the hammer of Thor, right?"

"I guess," said Shinji.

"It was. You told me last week. How does the Hammer work?"

"I guess you have to be worthy to lift it," Shinji shrugged. "What does that have to do with this thing? I lift it all the time."

"Yeah, but you're missing the critical component. You have to be worthy to _make the hammer work._ Lifting it is just how you accomplish the second step. It's not the action, it's the concept. How do you make the Capacitor work?"

"How?"

"I don't know. I was hoping you would have an epiphany so I can tell you tomorrow."

Shinji grabbed two handfuls of his own hair and groaned. "Whatever."

He shoved the Capacitor in the bag. "Where's the damned door?"

"Misato's room," said the other Shinji. "Mind the beer cans."

Shinji got up and walked out of the kitchen. He stopped to look over his shoulder. The other Shinji was on the phone.

"No," he was saying, "No, no, Rei, I think opening your own chain of donut shops is a fantastic idea. Call Dad, see if you can get him to sign off on it."

He looked up from the phone, covering it with his hand. "Oh, watch out. The next universe is going to be kind of weird. What's that? Oh, no, Rei. I was just talking to myself."

Shinji stepped through the door.

* * *

Shinji stumbled, as though he'd missed a step, and walked face-first into a tree. He caught himself in time to pull back and avoid breaking his noise, but ended up standing in front of it, blinking. It looked… flat. He touched the bark, and found it perfectly smooth, perfectly uniform in color. He reached up and plucked down one of the leaves. It was flat, and had shading _drawn_ on it. He let it flutter to the ground.

"Who are you?"

He spun on his heels.

There was a pony. Sort of. It was about waist high, maybe the size of a large dog, and… _wrong_. It didn't have any fur, its skin was a pale yellow, and its face was too human, eyes too large, forehead too pronounced. It had a long crimson mane, held back by Asuka's nerve clips.

Shinji's jaw dropped.

"Everypony!" she shouted. "There's somebody new here!"

More of them. They moved with an alien, languid precision. One of them was taller than the others, and was, apparently, a unicorn. She had pale white skin and purple hair and… had a whiskey bottle tattooed on her ass.

"Princess Misato," the first pony said, "What is it?"

Shinji screamed and bolted. He vaulted a weird technicolor fence made of posts and slabs and ran as fast as he legs would carry him. He passed a ghostly pale pony with a blue mane who looked up from a book as he ran past.

"Door," he shouted, "where's the bleeping door!"

He skidded to a stop. "What the bleep? Bleep!"

"Stop using such harsh language!"

He turned around. There was a _Gendopony_.

He broke into a run again. He ran into something hard, some kind of invisible wall, and bounced off of it. He quickly leapt to his feet and ran his hands over it, until he spotted the outline of the door and bolted for it. He nearly tripped over his own feet when a half-penguin half-dragon walked out in front of him and looked up.

"Pen Pen?"

It spoke in a rich baritone. "This is indeed a strange and disturbing universe."

Shinji ran through the door.

* * *

He nearly ran into a locker. He tried to stop, mashed his hands into the steel, and his feet slid out from under him. He managed to land gracefully, without hitting his head on the wooden bench behind him. He knew this place. It was the locker room at Nerv. Slowly he got up, leaning on the wooden plank, and got up on his feet. He checked the straps on his bag and listened.

"Get away from me!"

Asuka.

"I just want to make sure you're okay!"

He blinked at his own voice, still not quite used to hearing it. Did he really sound that _whiny_?

"Fuck off, Shinji. Do I look like I'm okay?"

Shinji crept through the lockers until he saw himself walk inside, the swinging door slapping shut behind him. He walked through the room to the first row of lockers and pounded his fists on them, sobbing as he fell against them. He turned around and slid down to the floor. Shinji stood up and walked out.

"Hello."

The other Shinji looked up at him. His eyes widened.

"Who…"

Shinji sat down on the bench. "What's your deal?"

"My deal?"

"There's something going on here," Shinji sighed. "There's always something going on."

He shuddered.

Little Shinji looked around nervously. "Are you from the future too?"

"Sort of," said Shinji. "I guess. I don't know. What do you mean, from the future? Too?"

Little Shinji hugged himself nervously. "I, um, I came back."

"From where?"

"The future."

Shinji nodded. Great. "How?"

"I don't know. Everything went wrong," he sniffed, "Asuka _died_ and everybody died," he blurted, "I just wanted to fix it and all of a sudden I was standing in the street holding the phone."

"I see," said Shinji.

He blinked. There was a thin line of red twine curled around the boy's finger. It looked like it was cutting off his circulation. It ran along the floor, and out of the room. Shinji blinked again.

"Do you see that?"

"See what?"

He plucked the string from the floor and lifted it up. He gave it a little tug. Little Shinji yelped and pulled his hand back.

"How did you do that?"

Shinji gathered up some of the string and gave it a little tug.

"You seriously can't see this?"

Little Shinji shook his head. "Are you crazy?"

"No, I'm not crazy. Well, I probably am, but not the dangerous kind. Not dangerous to you. Whatever. You know what? Shut up."

"Okay," said Little Shinji.

"Come with me."

Without waiting, Shinji seized the string and looped it around and around his hand, just in case. He followed it, veering along its path out of the locker room and into the cage. He got a few odd stares from the technicians and waved them off. He glanced behind him. No matter how far they traveled, the string never seemed to bunch up. Shinji stopped, half expecting it to run into the girl's locker room. It didn't.

Asuka walked out in her school uniform. She had a red string, too. It moved even as she stood still. Rei walked out of the locker room. The other end was looped around her pinky.

Shinji blinked. He turned to Little Shinji.

"Kid, it's a lost cause."

"What?"

"Never mind, just follow me."

He didn't give him a choice. He pulled him along by the red string following it through Nerv. He stopped. Misato and Ritsuko were in front of one of the Evas, arguing with each other. A red string tied their hands together, looped and around and around, a length of it running off somewhere else. Shinji held firmly onto the red string in his hand and pulled Little Shinji along.

It led him out of the cages. It ran into the elevator, and when he walked inside, it led back _out _of the elevator, but he had to take it up three floors to catch it. He dragged Little Shinji along, following the string. He passed Fuyutsuki in the hall. He had a red string, too. He had to duck under the string that connected Hyuga and _Aoba, _but it passed right through little Shinji as if it weren't there.

"Are you kidnapping me?"

"I said shut up," Shinji sighed.

"Okay."

The string led up the tramway to the surface. Shinji took it, tapping his toes on the floor. It led through the turnstiles and up to the surface. The easiest way to follow it was to take a bus, so he hopped on. The passengers were all coated in red strings, running everywhere in some kind of invisible network, dragging them along with them as the bus moved. Shinji got up, crawled through the tangle, and followed the string, ignoring the driver's demands for payments.

The string led up to a little house. Shinji grabbed little Shinji and pushed him up to the door, then knocked.

Hikari opened the door.

Shinji let go of the string. Suddenly, it was only a foot long, and it tied little Shinji and Hikari's hands together.

"Uh, hi," she blinked. "Can I help you?"

Shinji grabbed Little Shinji by the shoulders and pushed him forward. "Look at him."

"Okay…" Hikari trailed off, looking him up and down. She blushed deeply. "What are you wearing, Shinji?"

Little Shinji turned beet red. "I, uh, I have to wear this to fight angles, I mean angels, and I wear it in the plug so it's called a plugsuit but they don't plug anything into it which is kind of weird."

Hikari looked at him oddly, then broke out into a soft smile. "You stink."

"Sorry," he muttered.

Shinji clapped them both on the shoulder. "Listen, I want to try an experiment."

He pushed them closer together. "Hold still."

Grabbing the red string, he gave it a sharp yank. It tugged on their hands and they both yelped. Shinji looped it, and then pulled on the loop; it got longer. He pulled until he had enough, and then wrapped it around and around the two of them. The string snapped, twanged, and they both froze. Their heads turned. Their eyes locked. Shinji took two steps forward and gingerly rested his hands on Hikari's hips. She drifted into his embrace, and their lips touched.

The red string thrummed, like a guitar. All the others did, too, an alien symphony that rang in Shinji's ears. He backed away.

Hikari broke from the kiss. "What was that? Why did we-"

Little Shinji blinked. "I don't know, but… can we do it again?"

"Sure," said Hikari.

Shinji trembled. He swallowed, his throat dry. All he could taste was coffee. He looked down. There was a red string knotted around his pinky too, and it led through a door. The door. He gathered it up in his hand just to be sure, and he followed it through.

* * *

He walked out onto a sidewalk. Another Shinji, Asuka, and Rei were walking down the street, the two girls clinging to his arm. Shinji ducked behind a corner and watched them. Asuka tugged at the boy's sleeve.

"So, you were planning to ask _me _to the dance, right?"

"I believe Ikari intends to ask me," said Rei.

"I could take you both," said Shini.

"Baka!"* Asuka shouted, slapping him.

[*Idiot]

Shinji blinked. What the _hell?_

He ran out onto the sidewalk. "Hey, you! Asuka!"

The trio stopped and looked at him. "Who are you?" said the other Shinji.

"It doesn't matter. Listen, say that word again."

"What word?" Asuka snapped, planting her fists on her hips. "Anta baka?"*

[*Are you an idiot/What are you, stupid?]

Shinji stared at it. "I see it," he said softly. "_I can see it." _

"See what?" said Asuka.

"When you say those funny words, it… it _translates them._ I can see it!"

"Let's go," Asuka huffed. "He's just some old hentai* that wants to look at our butts and think ecchi* things."

[*pervert, *perverted, from the letter H]

Shinji stared at the words.

"I can see them. I can _see it!"_

He threw his hands up and leapt in the air, bouncing in a circle, shouting madly. "I can see the prose!"

"I'm calling the cops," said Rei.

"Don't worry about it," Shinji shouted, and ran past them. He clenched a fistful of the red string.

The door was up ahead, standing in the middle of the road. He ran towards it, following the string, then he stopped. This was taking forever. The door opened and sure enough, there was something on the other side of it. A creature poked her head around. He knew Asuka when he saw her, but her face was wrong. She was covered in fur and she had a snout. She was a _fox._

"Is this somebody's idea of a joke?" Shinji laughed.

"Screw you too, pal," she snapped, and pulled her head back through the door.

"This is taking forever," said Shinji. "I don't have time for this."

He put both hands on the frame of the door, still wrapped up and the red string, and picked it up. A sharp tug and it came loose, and he tossed it aside. The air rushed past him into the howling void, and he stepped into it.

He fell through space, gasping for air.

"I don't need to breathe," he gasped.

He threw his arms out and they tangled in the red strings. He bounced to a stop, hanging from the crimson tangle, and pulled himself up, like a fly struggling in a spiderweb, until he was sitting on them. The strings went everywhere, trailing through an infinite void, linking tiny points of light to one another. They bounced as he shifted his weight, got his feet under himself and stood up. His string ran off into the dark. There was a ball of strings moving through the inky blackness, towards a single, glowing star.

Shinji grabbed some of the stings over his head, looped his arms around them, and lifted his feet. He slid down, the strings running under his arms as he picked up speed, heading towards the great rolling ball of twine. He let go, pulling on the string looped around his own hand, and closed his eyes.

He tumbled through the air. He opened his eyes in time to see white sand rushing up to meet him, crossed his arms over his face, and hit, hard. He rolled with it, skidding to a stop in the sand. He put his hands out, drawing it between his fingers as he stood up.

The Adversary stood on the beach in front of him, his eyes wide with surprise. He shrugged. As Shinji stood up, the Adversary casually raised his hand, and held out his finger. It shifted, the white flesh turning to hard crystal, and a straight blade of it lanced out and rammed through the center of Shinji's chest.

"Oh," said Shinji.

The Adversary drew the blade back, flicked it to clean off the blood, and retracted it into his finger.

"That was anticlimactic," he shrugged, and walked down the beach.

Shinji fell to his knees. He touched his chest and his hand came back soaked in rich, dark blood. He could feel it spilling out over his stomach and down his legs, hear it pattering down on the sand. He fell forward and pitched on to his side, each beat of his heart a ragged shock of white-hot pain through his chest.

* * *

His eyes opened. The world was a dull white fuzz. He smelled fresh linen and a warm breeze played over his cheek. His hand was resting on soft cotton, but there was something else, gossamer strands curled around his fingers. He blinked away the fuzz until he could see. Raven black hair draped over his hand, spread out over the bed like a fan.

Misato lay half on her side, twisted the way she did in her sleep so her legs were pointed at him but her shoulders were flat. He always thought it looked uncomfortable but she would end up that way most every night. Her ragged t-shirt, little more than a loose cloth covering her modesty, had ridden up her stomach and was bunched under her chest. The bottom of the meandering scar that marred her midsection was visible, tugging at her skin and making it go white around it as she breathed in and out, in and out, softly snoring.

Her eyes fluttered open, her long lashes batting at him.

It had to be a trick.

She was the right age, younger than most of the others. She'd be about twenty-six or seven now, only a few years older than he was, close enough that it didn't really matter now that they were both adults. She made a soft sound and rolled on to her side, facing him. Her big brown eyes locked on his and she smiled softly, that sort of I just woke up and I'm glad to see you smile that he missed every morning he woke up and he wasn't there.

"Is it really you?"

She nodded.

He had to be sure. He lifted up his hand. The red string was wound around his pinky so tight it cut off his circulation, making a little white band at the base of his finger before the rest turned dark. The other end was tied tightly to hers. He picked her hand up in his, weaving their fingers together, and the string thrummed.

"How are you here?"

She shrugged.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know," she whispered. "I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

"We're already in bed."

"Then let's stay up for a while."

She moved closer to him, her soft skin on the cotton whispering in his ears. The bed soaked up her warmth and he was drawn into it and in a moment his arm was around her waist.

She sighed a deep, sharp sigh, her breath coming out in little spurts. Her eyes were tearing up.

"You have to go."

"I know," he said. "I know."

"Wake up, Shinji."

"I don't want to."

Pain lanced through his chest. He touched his flesh, felt the wound, ragged and open on his chest. A red stain was spreading out around him.

"I love you," he whispered.

Her smile widened. She squeezed his hand, hard. "I know."

He opened his eyes. He was face first in a reddening patch of damp white sand. He could feel it between his fingers, feel each grain as they scraped over the tiny grooves and lands on the pads of his fingertips. He blew out a breath, cratering the sand in front of his mouth. It didn't hurt anymore. He just felt immensely cold, and tired. He was in shock, and he was bleeding out. He could feel his heart pumping a little weaker each time as there wasn't enough of a return coming back in to keep it going. A black fuzz formed around the edges of the world.

"No," he said.

He moved his arms, until he firmly planted his palms in the sand, and pushed. He stood up, willing his heard to beat faster, willing his limbs to grow lighter, willing the warmth of his lifeblood to return. He put his hand on his chest above the wound and swept it down. He found unbroken skin, because there was no wound.

"Sticks and stones," he gasped.

The Adversary stopped. Slowly, he half-turned, gazing over his shoulder, gaping.

His voice cracked with anger, and something else, something alien to his haughty voice.

"_How?"_

Shinji lifted his head up. He understood. The knowledge was just _there_, part of his mind as though it had always been there. He looked the Adversary in the eye, and a small smile formed on his lips.

"He is the One," said Shinji.

The Adversary bolted.

Shinji ran after him, legs pumping, arms whipping furiously.

"You can't run faster than I can."

"I don't have to!" the Adversary screamed, "You can't stop me!"

They crested a tall dune. The Adversary ran through a patch of driftwood, stuck in the sands like grave markers. He kicked one of them, the wood splintering as he ran through it. A rusted cross of pale metal bounced across the sand and came to a stop.

They were on the beach.

"I feel sick," Asuka's voice, a harsh whisper like a gunshot.

The boy bent double on top of her, sobbing.

She lay there for a moment, and then pushed on his shoulder with her good arm, the one not covered in bandages. His sobs changed tempo, shifted, and he sniffed one sharply back before it escaped.

"Look out," she said weakly.

"What?"

More strenuously, nudging his shoulder. "Look out. _I have to puke!"_

He sat down in the sand and he she rolled onto her stomach, coughing, her body shaking as she retched. She got up on her hands in knees, and made a hideous coughing sound, a deathly scraping in her throat. The boy crawled to her side, slipping in the sand, and gathered her hair up in his hands, drawing it behind her head. Her slender form convulsed and a thick wet slap of vomit hit the sand, just in time for a gentle wave of LCL-tinged water to lap over it. He slipped his arm under her without thinking as a second round hit the first, and was followed a moment later by sharp, painful dry heaves. She clawed at her throat and gasped sharply for breath between them, choking back sobs, trying to still herself.

"Are you okay?"

"Do I look like I'm _fucking okay?"_

"I'm sorr-"

She reared up and seized the collar of his shirt in her free hand. "Don't say that! _Don't you ever say that to me again!"_

The Adversary skidded to a stop just in front of them. He raised his hand and if shifted, the pale flesh warping like rubber, twisting into a spiral point. The tip glowed, furious energies building within it as his core dumped energy into the oncoming blast.

"At last," he roared, "At long last."

The boy moved without thought, on pure instinct. He grabbed Asuka around her wounded ribs and pulled her behind him, turning his back, hunching up as he gritted his teeth and flattened himself, spreading his back to shield her.

The Adversary smiled. "_Now_ you have a backbone?"

Shinji screamed as he shoulder checked into him. The blast went wide, the beam arcing up over the beach, melting the glass to sand in a flash. It hit the petrified image of a Mass Production Eva and shattered it. As if it had suddenly regained all its mass, the pale, headless not-stone tumbled back to Earth, throwing up a splash as it hit the ocean.

Shinji grabbed the Adversary's arm with his bare hand, ignoring the all-consuming heat, and pushed it up and away from the kids.

He looked over his shoulder. "He wants to kill you! Run! _Run!"_

The boy dragged Asuka to her feet but she made an agonized sound and grabbed her midsection. She could only limp down the beach, the smooth soles of her plugsuit slipping in the sand. The boy half carried her, and then straight out picked her up, slipping her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.

"You can't beat me!" the Adversary roared, his core spinning up, glowing through his chest. "I'll kill you and I'll kill them, and the universe is _mine." _

Shinji rammed the heel of his hand into the Adversary's chin. His head snapped back and he stumbled, sliding across the sands, leaving a small wake.

His eyes flashed open, green spheres with tiny black dots for pupils. He grinned with sharp teeth, his fingers elongating, his nails cracking as they grew into talons.

"You don't see yourself, do you?" Shinji panted.

"Shut up," the Adversary snapped, leaping to his feet.

Shinji dodged out of the way. He had to keep him busy, give the kids a chance. His claws raked over Shiniji's chest and snapped the straps holding his knapsack. It tumbled to the sand, and the Capacitor spilled out, sliding across it.

"What is the Riddle of Steel?" said Shinji.

"I said _shut up!"_

"What is best in life?"

"To crush my enemies! To see them driven before me, and hear-"

"And hear what?" said Shinji. "Is that really the best? Or is it Rei that is best in life? The way her hair looks when it spreads out as she lies down, the way her armpits smell after she's been asleep all night, the way her skin drinks up the heat from your touch after she's been asleep for a while. I know these things, Shinji. You know them to. It's why you started this. You just forgot."

The Adversary charged him, arms spread wide to slash with his claws. Shinji ducked, twisted, deflected his blows. He spun his opponent around trapping his elbow, and the momentum forced it out of joint with a loud, sharp crack, and the Adversary screamed as he stumbled to the sand.

"You think you're Conan the Barbarian," said Shinji, bending to pick up the Capacitor. "You're just a little boy with a cardboard sword."

"I'll show you cardboard," the Adversary snapped.

"No, you won't."

He'd never looked at the Capacitor before, really _looked _at it. The confusing way it was shaped, three pointed ovals that crossed over each other without really touching, yet were all somehow the same piece, made it hard to do. He picked up and really looked at it, and he understood it. He turned it in his hand, and saw how it was a spiral. Turned it another way, and saw it was an eye in a pyramid. Tipped it back, and it was ten spheres joined by a grid of lines. He understood exactly what it was.

There were no words to describe it, because it was beyond words. It came from a world beyond words, where things take shape and gain syllables to be. Hikari didn't make it, she _summoned_ it, forged a shape it could occupy to exist in Shinji's idea space.

It was whatever he wanted it to be.

It was a _conduit._

He pulled on it, expanding it, and it snapped into being around him, a mobile suit of gold with a high crested helm and tall pylons over his shoulders, and it sank into his skin, entering him. He felt like he was made of gold. Raw knowledge thundered through him.

He punched the Adversary right in his face and knocked him backwards.

"What?" he snapped, "How-"

"Now, we end this."

The Adversary's face twisted into a snarl. His hair fell out, sluicing down his neck, and his nose sank into his face, becoming a pair of holes. His mouth twisted, distorting his voice.

"I will not be stopped."

Winding up, the Adversary threw a punch. His knuckles plowed into Shinji's face, and shattered. Shinji swung his head around, deflecting the blow, and shoved him back into the dirt.

He rested his hand on his chest, and drew it down. As it passed over the black surface of his undersuit, an inverted red triangle formed, the corners cut off. A second triangle of yellow appeared, an S winding through it.

"Kryptonian genes."

He took a step forward, raised his fist, and glanced at the chunk of emerald wound around his middle finger.

"Green Lantern Ring."

He swung his other hand around, and the blocky head of Mjolnir clipped the Adversary in the face, spinning him around.

"I can call upon whatever I need to defeat you."

The Adversary put his hand on his chest. "Stop. I'll kill them. I'll turn them into undifferentiated energy. Take a look at that string on your hand."

Shinji swallowed and looked down. The string ran straight into the Adversary's core.

"You would do that to me," he said, "you know what the string means. You know I feel for her the way you feel for Rei."

"That's not true, you're not real, you're not-"

"If life is an illusion, I am part of that illusion, and being part of it, the illusion is real to me."

He lifted Mjolnir and closed his hands around it. The hammer folded, and he spread his hands again. He was holding a mirror with a gilt frame, pointing it at the Adversary's twisted visage.

"You're not Conan," Shinji.

"Shut up!"

"You're Thulsa Doom."

"_No!"_ the Adversary bellowed, "What do you know? What do you…" His hands trembled. He stared at them, flexing the claws. "No, that's not right. I… I _won. _I want my prize."

"Rei isn't a prize, Shinji. She's a person."

"Stop calling me that! She betrayed me, _she _left _me_ behind, she-"

"She loves you. After all you did, she asked me to save you. Is that you talking, or that thing?"

"Shut up!"

"Let him go, Shogoki."

The Adversary trembled. "I… I just wanted her to be happy…"

"She's sitting in a cold room, crying her eyes out while the universe burns down in front of her. Does that sound happy to you?"

"I…" he clutched his head. "No, listen to me!" he shouted at himself, twisting and nearly falling to the sand. "We can't, I can…" he trailed off.

The Adversary stopped. His arms fell down to his side. He looked up, those green eyes full of hate.

"You lose."

"I don't think so," said Shinji.

He clapped his hands together and when he drew them apart, there was a Lance between them. He grasped the haft and turned it, lifting it up for an overhand throw.

The Adversary reared up.

"I am of the First Ones. I am the Forbidden Union of Adam and Lilith," said the Adversary. "I am invincible."

"No, you're not," said Shinji. "Last time I checked, you left Lilith upstairs. If I remember correctly, Shinji asked the Author to pull her out of him."

Its eyes widened. "That's… it doesn't matter, I have the others. I have all of them within my core, I just need to-"

"You hold them prisoner. You think they'll merge with you?"

"I tire of this form, of these games. Time to die, little man."

Its core became a sun. The moon, the white moon, darkened the light fleeing from it. The sky itself changed, the night become a true, deep darkness, and turned the color of blood. He looked over his shoulder and saw the boy and the girl. She was curled against him as he feebly attempted to shield her with his arms. He would lose the integrity of his physical form, again. Once those two were struck down the wave would build, spread, leap from point to point, and wither the remaining leaves on the Tree. Everything would fall.

Shinji turned, in a panic. He could _see_ it, see the anti-AT Field ramping up in Shogoki's core, increasing in strength as the beast contained it. There were more cores inside it, all the cores it had already absorbed. Infinity times infinity times infinity over and over again. Any moment, it would burst.

He raised the spear.

"My AT-Field cannot be breached," the beast snarled, "the light of my soul is _inviolate."_

Shinji stared into the core. He looked at the spear. He opened his hand, and it vanished.

"What are you doing?" Shogoki demanded. It sounded almost worried.

"Steel can break. Flesh withers. The will is invincible."

His body was only a construct. It was only words. There was never a Tree. There was never a door. It was only a construct.

He went into the core.

At the heart of all things, the beast cried _hate._

* * *

He didn't pitch forward, or trip, or fall down this time. He couldn't have been said to move. Shinji simply appeared, and his perceptions gave the theoretical space around him shape. He'd abandoned his body, given it away before the Adversary, before Shogoki, could steal it from him with the AT-Field. The Capacitor thrummed, surrounding him, part of him, a lifeline beaming from his brain straight up at angle he couldn't see. He took a breath.

He was, of course, surrounded by crystal. He stood in a valley of red rock, gleaming and transparent, like very clear, very pure quartz, tinted with blood. The sky was red, and whether it was more of the same material far distant on the inner curve of an immense (relative to him) sphere or a reflection in the sky, he didn't know, or care. He could feel the souls around him, the power they contained.

He started to walk, starting to search.

"That doesn't make any sense," he said out loud, "I'm not in a physical place. Why would I need to look?"

He turned to his left. He was just there.

A column of the red stone ran from the floor to… wherever. He wiped away a residue on the surface -it seemed to sweat, for some reason- and flicked it away. He saw his own face inside layered under the red rock, twisted into a tormented mask of grief. He pounded it on with his fist, crashing the gold mail around his hand into the surface, but it was unmarred.

"Stupid," he said to himself, "Stupid, stupid. If I'm going to break a concept I have to do it with another concept."

He closed his hand around the hammer of Thor. It didn't appear, or form, or come from somewhere, it was just _there._ He gave it an easy, gentle swing, and the hard, sharp edge of the block head crashed into the crystal and shattered it. LCL rushed out, spilling around his feet, followed by a sharp cough. The Shinji inside thrust his hands out, pushed the crystal away, and stumbled out. He fell onto his hands and knees, coughing, his red cape draped over him.

Shinji blinked. He forgot the hammer in his hand and it ceased to be there. It was hard to concentrate, seeing him as he really was, especially as he stood up.

"You don't even know what you are, do you?"

Superman stood up. As he moved, he flashed. For a moment, he had Shinji's face, and the next he was older, squarer, taller. Gray appeared at his temples, vanished. He settled back into being another Shinji again.

"You don't spread hope, or represent hope, or make hope. You _are _hope."

He scratched his head. "If you say so. Where are we?"

"We're in the Adversary's core."

He looked around. "I suppose that's about right. What happened to you?"

Shinji glanced down at himself. "I had to put on my power suit. Hurry. We have to free the others."

Shinji moved, moving from column to column, crashing them open with hammer blows while Superman did the same, but pried them apart with his bare hands. When he found Asuka, his Asuka, and she emerged, she started screaming, clutching her flat stomach, her gloved hand sliding over her plugsuit.

"Where's my baby?"

"Be not afraid," said Shinji.

She looked at him. "What?"

"You exist here as you imagine yourself in your own heart."

"What?"

"You have conceptualized being skinny."

"I'm not skinny!"

"_Asuka," _said Superman, resting his hands on her shoulders.

"I just, I… is she okay?"

Shinji nodded. "Only if we accomplish our mission. We have to get everyone out."

"That's going to take forever."

He looked around. She was right. The same problem that once held Shogoki in check now captured him. There were infinite Shinjis to free, a task that had no conclusion, like a box contained inside an infinite number of boxes.

"Don't move."

He lifted the hammer, and turned his palm up. It floated over it, light as a feather. He closed his eyes. He had to concentrate for this one.

Then there were lots of hammers.

They flew around like motes of dust, like flakes in a snowstorm, like stars in a galaxy. The hammer was everywhere at once, crashing through crystal, bouncing from one column to another. LCL rushed between his feet in a wave, the sound of the souls being freed thundering in his ears like the tide in a seaside cave.

"This idea space is no longer necessary. You can't hide, Shogoki. You can't have him, either."

It was like a hall of mirrors. Everyone was him, or Asuka, or Misato. He was tempted to cry out, to find her, but he had to put everyone else first. The other Shinjis were all around him. Super-Shinjis, Spider-Shinjis, mad doctors and mad scientists, a Shinji who was a thousand feet tall, a Shinji in golden armor bedecked in eagles, a halo on his head. Good and evil, alive and dead, vampires, zombies, Shinjis whose physical form defied description.

Only one was missing.

"Everyone," he said, calmly. "I need you to be me."

There was only him.

He looked around. "I'm not wasting my time in a maze. Come out."

The red crystal was gone. He stood in ankle deep mud, choking out brown grass in thin tufts here and there.

A castle. Its curtain wall stretched off into either direction, from horizon to horizon. Its towers were taller than the tallest skyscrapers, its stones, boulders, its halls a maze. It would take a seasoned army a thousand years to besiege it.

Shinji stepped over the wall.

"You can't fool me with your illusions, monster."

It changed again. He walked through a rock tunnel, lit by torches set in the wall. He could smell decay in the distance.

He stopped.

"Quit looking for him," he muttered to himself.

He took a deep breath. He opened his eyes.

"Take him to the Tree of Woe," said Shinji. "Crucify him."

The Adversary was hanging from the tree, vultures perched on the branches around him, milling around on the ground. Bound to it by ropes about his wrists and ankles, he was settled in a crook in the fork of the tree, barely breathing, his body covered in scratch marks and tiny weeping wounds. His head lolled onto his chest.

"I know you're here."

The entire world shook. "You can't have him. He's mine."

"I know why," said Shinji. "You have no soul. I take him back, and you're done. Inert. Motionless."

"I will not permit it."

Shinji clenched his teeth. He knew it was coming. The Beast rose up, rising behind the Tree of Woe. It was like an ambulatory mountain, lifting out of the ground. Free of its armor, free of the restraint of being an Eva, Shogoki was an abomination, a thing that could not be, all alien proportions and misjointed limbs, the core gleaming in its midsection. Shinji didn't think about he could be _in _the core while it was right in front of him.

"Shinji!" Shinji shouted, "Wake up!"

The Beast moved, walking on all fours, dragging its long claws in the earth, digging valleys in the soft soil as it approached.

"You can't wake him," said the Beast. "I have stilled him. Now I will tear you apart, little man. Forever. You walk in the light of my soul and still you fail," it rasped, grinning madly. "You lose. You cannot save him."

"You're right, I can't. If there was a way, I would know. I also know who can."

Shinji breathed.

"Rei," he said, and she was there.

She ran to the tree and climbed up, pressing her body to the Adversary. Somehow, she was clad in… a chainmail bikini. There were no other terms to describe it. None were necessary. She shook him, pulled at his arms.

"She cannot wake him. The false Lilith will die the same as the rest of you. She is abomination," the Beast rasped, moving like a cat, its shoulders hunching as it stole around the tree, ready to pounce. "She perverts the holy mother with the false image of the Lilim. She is not meant to be of her children. She is more. Now I have her again and she will be only me. I will devour her, eat her bones."

The Adversary's eyes flew open and fixed on the Beast in a furious glare.

The Beast's gaze snapped to him. "No, little soul. You are mine now. Our compact is sealed."

The Adversary's face twisted into a sneer. Rei clung to him, pressing her face into his neck, whispering something Shinji could not hear.

"I once warned Zerougoki. Do her no harm, or I will tear you to pieces."

"Only with my strength to back it, only with the fear of my wrath. I am the world ender, the world eater, I am the death of all things. I am the Fruit of Wisdom who tears asunder the Fruit of Life."

"I follow Crom," said the Adversary, "He is strong. When I die, I will go before him, and he will ask me, _**'what is the riddle of steel?**_'"

He reared up, his chest bulging, and flexed his arms. The ropes binding his wrists snapped like brittle twigs. He kicked his legs free and landed on the ground in a crouch, panther quick, agile as a cat, Rei following behind him. There was an axe in his hand as if he was born with it. The Beast recoiled even before it was struck. The chipped blade of the axe sunk into the gray, bloodless flesh of the creature and sheared off its arm, and it screamed.

"Now!" the Adversary bellowed, "While it's distracted!"

The Spear was in Shinji's hand as he sprinted, taking rapid, lunging steps. He had a vision in his mind as he raised it, of Unit Zero bounding through rain, the Lancea Longinus in her hand, ready to hurl it into the heavens to strike down the Angel of Birds. Not one Unit Zero, but all of them, all that ever could and would be, great and small, towering over skyscrapers and running down streets, Rei in chainmail in a forest, Rei firing a sniper rifle. He ground his teeth and he hurled the spear, whose head was three pointed ovals linked in a non-shape, the Metaflux Capacitor itself.

The Beast tried to raise its AT-Field, to deflect the Spear with the light of its soul.

"It is my soul you seek to command," the Adversary bellowed, clinging to Rei. "It is not yours. It is hers. I deny you. I give you up."

The Spear sank deep into the core, and the Beast twisted. Shogoki wailed, rearing up, contorting as light burst forth from within it. It clutched its skull with its hand, its mouth tearing open too wide, ragged teeth cracking from the fury of its own death scream.

It exploded. There are no words to speak of such a sound, for it was beyond sound. It was being, it was light and life and the fire of creation.

Shinji was alone on a beach. There was an acorn in his hand. He reached down and parted the sand with his fingers, and sank the seed into the soil and closed it again.

He was in the Great Atrium. All was dark, all was cold. There was no tree, nothing but Shinji, and behold there was a great earthquake. Born again the Tree erupted from the ground. It did not grow, it did not expand, it shredded nothingness and tore its way into being, bursting out like fireworks, like caged lightning bombarding through the air in every direction, raw force, raw _life._ Branches piled upon branches, reaching out like great golden fingers to seize the immaterial chaos of nothingness and take shape from it, leaf after leaf, world after world unfurling strong and fresh and new, born in the dew-fresh all-consuming glory of life.

The world lived again, all worlds lived again.

Shinji stood in his golden armor, shoulder pylons standing over his head. He flipped up his visor and pulled of his helmet, and his hair spilled down over his shoulders. He turned around, helmet under one arm, the Spear in his other hand.

Before him stood three yellow aliens.

"What now?"

"Our time is ended," said the first alien. "I am what was, now what may have been."

"I am what is, now what might be."

"I am what was yet to be, now come what may."

He looked over his shoulder.

"Someone must stand guard. There are other threats, secret hates whose names may not be spoken. It is your station," said the first alien, "if you wish it. You will stand apart from Iron Shinji. You are Cosmic Shinji."

He nodded. "Is my world still there?"

"It could be," said the second alien, "if you but perceive it, and collapse it into being. You can be in many places."

"You cannot stand alone. Always, there are three," said the second alien. "Always. Asuka, Shinji, Rei. Misato, Kaji, Ritsuko. Gendo, Naoko, Yui. Fuyutsuki, Gendo, Yui. Shinji, Toji, Kensuke. Toji, Hikari, Asuka. Always three. Past. Present. Future. Maid. Matron. Crone."

"It is for you to choose, for them to accept," said the third alien.

"You already know what I'm going to say. I can't leave this behind."

"That is why it must be you."

"I still don't understand. There had to be someone better, someone wiser than me."

The aliens looked at each other.

"One who is wise enough to ask, is wise enough."

"Great," he muttered.

He heard a yawn. He turned around. Rei was lying curled at the base of the tree.

"Is that…"

"Yes," said the aliens.

"What happens to her?"

"It has not happened yet. She has been kept here. There is something that needs to be said."

"By who?"

"Him."

Shinji turned.

"You."

Hello, said the Author.

"You know, I could stab you right now."

I know. I'm not here to see you. You already know what I would say to you.

"That's what the Capacitor is, isn't it? It's a direct line from me to you."

That's right.

"Somebody has a high opinion of himself," said Shinji.

The Author walked over to Rei. He offered her a hand and she took it. She stood up, and studied him for a moment.

She slapped him.

Ow! That hurt.

"Tell me about it," said Shinji.

"Why?" she shrieked, standing on her tip-toes to seize the collar of his shirt. "Why did you do that to him? Why did you leave him to that monster?"

I didn't.

"Why didn't you save him?"

I did. I sent him you.

She released his collar.

"May I ask you something?"

Certainly, Rei.

She stood on her toes again and cupped her hand around his ear, and whispered a request.

"Of course."

She smiled.

She vanished.

"What's happening to her?"

We'll see in a minute.

"You said there would be three," said Shinji. "What happens, do I get cloned or something?"

"No," said the aliens. "It is for you to choose, and for them to accept."

"Great, I choose-"

Misato stood next to him.

He blinked. It was her. It was really her. The red string proved it. She was standing there blinking, dressed in a pale purple gown of silk, something that looked sort of Greek, hanging off one shoulder. Bands of gold ringed her arms and a fine tiara held her hair from her eyes.

"Is… is this how she sees herself?"

"No," said the aliens.

It's how you see her, said the Author.

She slowly turned to face Shinji, her eyes wide. She touched her midsection, just below her chest. "They shot me," she murmured. "I died."

"I-"

Shinji didn't manage to get a syllable out before she leapt into his arms, throwing her arms around his neck and clamping down on his waist with her legs. She kissed him furiously, nearly bowling over and he dropped the damned spear, and he didn't care.

When she finally released him, or released him from the leg lock, anyway, she rocked back and forth in his arms, not speaking.

"Another," said the aliens. "There must be one more."

Hikari appeared beside him. Not the mighty Thor, not the Cyborg, not a vampire. His Hikari. She was wreathed in golden armor that matched his, but for the sword at her hip, and the golden laurel leaves that adorned her hair.

"You don't have to stay," said Shinji. "It's up to you."

She looked at her hands. "I was dead."

"Yes," said Shinji.

Her hands sank to her sides. "Toji is with Asuka now."

Shinji nodded.

"Are they happy?"

"You may see for yourself," said the aliens.

Hikari glanced at the tree. "I'll stay."

"The mantle is passed. Our task is completed."

The aliens vanished.

Then they reappeared.

"There is a bedroom. Do not have sex on the tree."

"How did they-" Misato started, but they vanished again and she trailed off.

"Wait," said Shinji. "We still don't know what happens."

We have to watch, said the Author.

He was seated in front of the tree. Next to him was a bag of tortilla chips.

Chip?

"No, thanks," said Shinji, sitting down. Misato and Hikari sat down beside him.

We watched.

* * *

Hikari ticked the name off on her clipboard. Shinji Ikari.

She froze.

"What the hell?" she whispered, looking around.

Toji gave her a glance as he walked past, if only because he heard her profanity, or maybe not. She tried, hard, to remember. Something important had just happened, but she didn't know what it was. She remembered waking up that morning, preparing for school, conducting the morning routine, loading onto the reserved car on the train for the field trip, all of it, but there was something in between, like a half remember dream, lost as she woke up.

She looked at the name she just ticked off. Shinji Ikari. She knew about him, he was the new transfer. Something about him was important. Something she needed to do, or say.

It was hard to remember. Particularly as she looked at him, because he was very, very cute. Hikari was startled when she realized she was blushing. She was the Class Representative. She was taking down names. It was what she did.

For some reason, some reason she did not quite understand she reached out, and curled her middle and ring finger to her palm. Nothing happened, not that she expected it to, but her heart sank. Something was missing, she was sure of it. It was like a nail in her mind, prodding her each time she moved. It was like the nagging feeling that she may have left the stove on.

Worse, the more she concentrated, the harder it became to remember. Whatever it was, it was slipping away.

Ikari was standing in front of her. "Class Rep?" he said, softly. "You're staring at me."

She blinked. She was staring at him. Worse, her mouth had suddenly decided to ruin her life.

"You're cute," she blurted.

He blushed, his eyebrows shooting up and, and scratched the back of his head. It was the most adorable little gesture. He was _really_ cute.

Something about that made her very sad.

"I am?"

"I didn't mean-"

"You didn't?" he said, wilting.

"No! I mean yes! I mean I did, but I didn't mean to say it! I don't know. Let's go on the dumb field trip."

She clutched her clipboard to her chest and followed him in. He drifted away from her, but his whole demeanor changed. He went from nervously ignoring her to nervously pretending to ignore her while he was checking her out. She was sure of it. He kept looking at her legs, in particular. She didn't know why, since they were bony and awkward, just like the rest of her.

She stopped. There was a splotch mark on the floor. Someone had stepped on a particularly large, hairy spider. She stepped around it and went into the exhibition.

It droned on. The Akagi woman sounded bored, like she was reading it all off of cards, and passed the students off to a subordinate as quick as possible. Hikari took it as a time to relax, not worry about how the others were behaving. They were mostly in line, so there was little point in doing anything but letting her mind drift.

The rest of the day was uneventful. When they boarded the train to head back to school, the Ayanami girl sat next to Shinji and eyed daggers at Hikari the entire time, and the pressure of her gaze pushed her to the other side of the car. Toji ignored her, too, chatting up some girl Hikari only knew as a name on her roster.

By the time they got back, the school day was over. She collected her things, and headed home. She wasn't paying attention, which is how she was nearly killed. She looked up to see a big sedan skidding to a stop. The bumper actually nudged her hip and she nearly fell over.

She hopped out of the way and glared at the driver. He was an old man, so she felt bad, paradoxically, for being angry at him for nearly killing her. He had a long beard and wore a dark coat and hat despite the heat, and had an eyepatch over his left eye. He grinned wolfishly as he drove past, gunned the engine, and the car swerved around the corner.

Hikari shrugged, and headed home.

"Welcome home!" Kodama called out as Hikari walked into the house.

"Whatever," she said, sighing.

"Dad's going to be late. I'm making dinner."

Hikari shuddered a little. "I'm taking a nap. I had a long day."

"Fine," Kodama said, cheerily.

She slipped into her small bedroom and pushed the door shut. She dumped her things in the corner, uncharacteristically unconcerned for neatness. She had homework, but if she caught a few hours of sleep now, she could stay up late and finish it.

She flopped on the bed.

"_Ow!"_ she shouted.

There was something hard under her top sheet. She pulled it back, rubbing at the tender spot on her back where the corner of it had dug into her. She expected a box or something, probably some kind of practical joke by Kodama.

She didn't know _what_ it was. She picked it up, curious. It almost looked like a hammer, but no hammer she'd ever seen was this big. The head was a solid block of dull metal that looked almost like stone, fixed to a heavy haft that was wrapped in leather, one coil hanging from the bottom as a kind of strap. She turned it in her hand. There was writing on the other side, not etched into it, just _there, _leaving the surface unmarred. She tilted the head so she could read it.

"_Whosoever lifts this hammer…_"

* * *

There was a moment of dull shock when Shinji realized what he was doing. There was a small creature swathed in blankets cradled in the crook of his arm, squeezing his fingertip. He was in his uniform, mud up to his knees from an earthquake in Bolivia, cradling his daughter in his arms.

He wasn't there a moment ago, but that wasn't important.

Asuka was lying on the bed, half awake and half asleep. The unfortunate truth of the situation was that anesthetic simply wouldn't work on her. She had to do it the old fashioned way. It was for the best. Ritsuko insisted there was great danger, no reason to assume the baby was invulnerable and Asuka's superhuman strength might harm her.

That is, until Ritsuko tried to take a blood sample from the infant, and the needle snapped off rather than pierce her skin.

She had pale blue eyes, more Asuka's than his, and her hair was a lighter shade than Shinji's, closer to Yui's. She was tiny and just barely able to open her eyes, and perfect.

Asuka was still shiny with sweat, looking more tired than he'd seen her in years, maybe ever. She slowly rolled her head towards him.

"You know," he said, "I don't think I've ever seen you more beautiful than you are now."

Her eyes narrowed. "If you do this to me again, I will murder you."

Shinji looked up.

Lilith.

Asuka looked over and sat bolt upright, putting herself between Lilith and Shinji, and their child. "What are you doing here?"

Lilith raised her hands in surrender. "I'm not come to take your child, Asuka. Be not afraid."

Shinji relaxed, letting out a slow breath. "Then…"

"She is, in a way, my niece. I am aware of a certain custom among humans. A protector is chosen, an additional parent."

"A godmother?" said Asuka.

"Precisely."

"You… you want to be her godmother?"

"Yes. Have you chosen a name?"

"Mari," said Asuka.

"That is a good name," said Lilith. "Do you know where souls come from?"

Asuka shook her head. Shinji was too busy staring at his child.

"From me, all of them, even yours, though you don't remember. Someone asked me for a favor and so I chose a very special one for your child, to enter her when I delivered the breath of life. It is an old soul, long abused. I could think of no better place for her than with you."

"She'll be safe with us," said Shinji. "She'll know wonders even we can't imagine."

Asuka looked at Lilith, hard. "Do you know the future?"

"Of course. I'm already there."

"Will we have more? More children."

Lilith smirked. "What are you, stupid?"

Asuka's eyes narrowed. Lilith vanished.

"She does that," said Shinji.

"It was all real," said Asuka. "It all really happened."

"Do you think anyone else remembers?"

Shinji shrugged, only slightly. "I don't know how much _I_ remember. Sometimes I feel like I was watching it all from outside my own body, like a dream."

"Is it true?" said Asuka. "That we're being watched?"

"You mean? Oh. Yeah. I couldn't always see them."

"Are they… always there? I mean, when we…"

"No," he sighed. "I don't think they mean us any harm."

She looked around the room. "Are they watching now?"

He nodded. "I think they want to make sure they baby is okay."

Rei knocked on the door frame and stepped into the room. Shinji glanced down and saw the emerald ring on her right hand.

"May I?"

Shinji nodded and very slowly and carefully, passed little Mari into her arms. Her entire expression changed, her usual reserve fading as an unconscious, open-mouthed smile spread across her lips. She didn't say anything for quite a while, and finally returned the baby to Asuka.

"I… I have to go," she murmured.

She stumbled into the hallway, where Kensuke was waiting.

"Uh," he said.

She turned to him, very slowly, a manic grin on her face. She seized his hand and dragged him down the hall until she found an unoccupied room, and shoved him inside. The door slammed and locked, and the blinds on the window dropped down with a clatter.

Shinji turned, and looked out an angle only he can see…

"Hey. Get lost."

…and winked.

* * *

Shinji was breathing hard. It wasn't from his workout, he'd finished hours ago and had already showered and changed. It was from the prospect of meeting Rei.

He'd seen her a few times, going in and out of the locker room. Something about her strange appearance drew him to her, but he hadn't worked up the confidence to talk to her. For some reason, she'd been invited to his house, to eat dinner. Ritsuko was in the kitchen, cooking. Dad was in his study, going over something important for work, like he always was. Shinji lingered by his door, and was about to turn away when his father spoke.

"Come in."

Shinji stepped inside.

"Dad?"

"Yes?"

He leaned back from his desk, strewn with papers. In his slacks and turtleneck, he looked eminently casual. He hadn't shave in a day, and Shinji almost wondered what he'd look like with a beard. He'd never seen it. As if he could sense the attention, Gendo scratched his chin.

"Well, come on. Come in."

Gendo's home study was the opposite of his office at work. Shinji had been there a few times and it was scary, a big empty space with a weird thing etched on the ceiling. At home he was much more informal. He laughed, he joked, he told stories. He scraped at the bowl of his pipe while Shinji worked up the courage, looking around the room at the books of shelves and papers, at the diploma on the wall and the black belt draped over one of the side chairs, casually left out.

"How do I, um, talk to girls?"

"With your mouth," Gendo said, wryly.

"No, I mean, what do I say?"

"Talk to her."

Shinji blinked. "That's what I mean, what do I talk about?"

Gendo sighed and leaned forward, folding his hands in front of himself. "Girls aren't aliens, Shinji. You talk to them about things you're interested in, and if you're lucky, they're interested in the same things. The best part is when you share interests with each other, and each of you learn new likes you never knew you had."

Shinji scratched the back of his head. "That's it?"

He nodded and smiled. "That's it."

"What do you do if you, um, like her?"

"Oh," said Gendo. "That's different. You beat the shit out of her boyfriend."

"I heard that!" Ritsuko shouted from the kitchen. "Gendo, you stop filling that boy's head with nonsense."

He leaned close. "It works, or you wouldn't be here."

Shinji nodded, as if he'd been imparted with some great secret.

He lowered his voice to a whisper. "Did you beat up Ritsuko's boyfriend?"

"No. She didn't have one. I won her over with my wit and charm."

"What wit and charm?" she called.

Gendo rolled his eyes. "You're worried because Ayanami is coming over tonight."

Shinji nodded.

"You have a crush on her."

His jaw dropped. "I, uh, that is, I-"

Gendo clapped his shoulder. "She lives with Captain Katsuragi. You know that. She could use a change of pace, I think."

Shinji nodded.

Gendo leaned forward. "She's a little strange. She could use your help, I think. Be nice to her."

Shinji nodded enthusiastically.

He scurried back to his room, all but slammed the door, and changed his clothes. He didn't have anything that was formal other than his school uniform, so he pulled on a white shirt and slacks. He left the shirt unbuttoned at the top. Wearing his tie would be a little weird.

He had homework to do. It was tough to concentrate on it, and it was difficult. He'd already advanced two years in school. He'd heard that the German pilot was actually taking college courses while she trained to pilot, against advice not to. Dad had even called her on the phone. He listened to them chatting in German a few times in the middle of the night, wondering what they might be saying. He never worked up the nerve to ask. He found himself unable to concentrate, and ended up pacing the room, walking back and forth beside his bed.

"Shinji!" Dad called, "Get down here!"

Shinji nearly bolted down the steps, careening into the living room. Rei had just stepped inside. His jaw dropped.

He'd seen her in her school uniform and her plugsuit, which was kind of weird, but only glimpses. She stood in the living room in full form, in a surprisingly tight black t-shirt that only came down to her belly button, and dark jeans that hugged her hips rather tightly. She had on pink socks, and canvas sneakers. The tips of her hair were dyed, sort of dusted with a metallic frost blue that stood out against the rest of it, and she was obviously wearing makeup, very light shades that made it look like she was always blushing.

Ritsuko was giving her the eye. She leaned over to Dad.

"What the hell did Katsuragi to do her?" she mumbled.

"Shinji!" Dad called again.

Sheepishly, Shinji walked out into the room. As much as he wanted to look at Rei, and her image was something he definitely wanted to commit to memory, the floor was suddenly an eyeball magnet. He scratched the back of his head and he felt his father tense, ready to slap his hand down.

"Rei, this is my son, Shinji."

"Hello, Ikari," said Rei.

"You can call me Shinji," he said, quickly.

"Shinji," she repeated, studying the word, somehow. Evaluating it.

"Why don't you take her upstairs?" Dad said, sharply. "You two can talk while we finish up dinner."

"Gendo, is that-" Ritsuko started.

He shushed her. "Go on."

Rei started walking, almost brushing past him. Shinji choked back a yelp and followed after her. She stopped at the top of the stairs and he had to squeeze past her, oh how he had to squeeze past her, almost touching the pale skin of her arm. She looked back at his father, and the two shared a brief, almost knowing glance.

"In here," he said, pushing in the door.

A sudden wave of irrational panic thundered through him. All the posters, the toys! She was going to think he was a _nerd._

She walked into his room before he even realized she'd passed him and stood there, taking it all in with a slow turn of her head.

"What are these things?"

"Uh, presents and stuff. I keep them for sentimental value. I don't, ah, play with toys."

"I see," said Rei.

She picked up a red truck from the shelf over his desk. "What is this?"

"That's Optimus Prime. He's a transformer."

Rei turned the toy in her hands. "What does it do?"

Shinji gingerly took it from her grasp, and unfolded it. He successfully contained the urge to make the noise in the process, but only just barely. He handed the unfolded robot back to her.

"I see," Rei said again, returning it to the shelf. "These others are the same?"

Shinji nodded. "I have a whole collection. This is Ironhide, and this is Megatron. He's evil."

"Because he is a gun?"

"I guess. I never put much thought into it."

He glanced at his display case of Chaos Space Marines, but decided against explaining that to her just yet.

Rei moved around the room, studying his things. She stopped at the vintage poster on the wall. It was framed, another birthday gift from Dad, after Shinji liked the movie. It was just the logo and a red, yellow, and blue streak, kind of subtle, if you think about it.

"What does this say?" said Rei, touching the glass over the logo.

"Superman: The Movie."

"And here," she said, tapping the bottom.

"You will believe a man can fly."

Shinji shook his head. "Wow. Well, um, I've seen you with books," he said, remembering his father's advice. "Do you like to read?"

"Those are for school," said Rei, "but I enjoy reading. I enjoy it more than the television shows that Misato makes me watch."

"Like what?"

Rei shrugged, a tiny gesture that was absolutely hypnotic, especially as she stared absently at another shelf of toys. The way her hair was fringed was… it was cool. He liked it. Quite a bit.

"She enjoys shows about people becoming angry and shouting at each other because they are in love, and other shows about Americans consuming too much alcohol and puking."

Shinji snorted. "What do you like to watch?"

"I don't know."

He started to panic. Didn't he ask her something a minute ago? Talk to her about herself. That was it.

"Um, I like your shoes."

She looked down. "I chose these."

Jackpot!

"Misato chose the rest of my clothes. She insisted I wear this shirt and these pants for some reason. She referred to the shoes she chose as 'eff me shoes'. They were uncomfortable, so I wore these instead."

"Oh, well they look good, too."

Rei looked at him very oddly. "Thank you?"

He wasn't sure if it was a question.

"So," he said, scratching at his head again. "I guess we're going to be up here for a while."

Rei sat on the bed. For some reason, his heart pounded in his chest.

"We should do something," he added.

"Such as?"

Oh, shit.

He needed something, anything. "We could watch a movie."

She looked at the poster. "That one?"

"Sure."

He fished the DVD out and stuck it in the player, and clicked on the television.

"Some of the effects are kind of lame," he said, "but it's a classic. I only have the dub, though."

"Dub?"

"Well, it's in English. This is dubbed."

"Oh."

Shinji sat down on the opposite side of the bed, no reason to crowd her. He glanced at her a few times and lay down, as close to the edge as he could manage. Rei's eyes flicked from him to the television, and she did the same, except she claimed much more bed real estate than he did. A thousand thoughts flared in his mind as she settled, relaxing on the mattress. Most of them aligned to a few simple facts.

There was a girl _in his bed._

And she was _touching him._

"Are you alright?"

He blinked. She was also talking to him.

"Yeah," he said.

"Why are you on the edge of the bed? It looks uncomfortable."

He shimmied a little closer. He was straight up touching her now, their arms sort of resting on each other. She shifted her weight, and the springy give of the mattress ended up with her resting against him, her head inches away from his on the pillow, but not touching.

She rolled a little more onto her side, but hesitated before she touched him.

"So, you're a pilot too, huh?"

She nodded.

He turned away from the television a little. "Do you ever think about when it starts. I mean, if the angels come. We have to fight."

"Sometimes," said Rei.

"Are you scared?"

"Yes," she said, "but you are a pilot, too. You will defend me, won't you?"

He blinked. "Of course. We'll protect each other."

"May I ask you something?" she said.

"Yeah," said Shinji.

"What is the Riddle of Steel?"

He blinked. "Huh?"

"Never mind," she said, softly, smiling at her left hand. "Forget it."

The movie had already started.

Shinji froze, like a rabbit in a snare, as Rei put her head on his shoulder, and draped her arm over his chest.

"I'm cold."

He blinked. There was a blanket folded up at the bottom of the bed. He kicked his feet under it and pulled it up with his legs, and drew it over her. She was asleep in a few minutes, snoring lightly into his shoulder. There was a girl _sleeping_ in his bed.

Suddenly, the movie was a lot less interesting. It droned in the background.

_It is for this reason above all, their capacity for good, that I have sent them you…_

* * *

_You have been reading_

The Crisis of Infinite Shinjis

_Chapter Six: The Riddle of Steel_

_And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone._

* * *

_The Crisis incorporates characters and concepts from…_

**Neon Genesis Evangelion/Rebuild of Evangelion** created by Hideaki Anno and Studio Gainax/Khara with character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadomoto

**The Marvel Universe** and characters created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Larry Leiber, Don Heck, and too many others to list.

**The DC Comics Universe** including Jerry Seigel and Joe Schuster's Superman, Bob Kane and Bill Finger's Batman, Willam Moulton Martin's Wonder Woman, and many others.

**The Evil Dead and Army of Darkness**, created by Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell

The grim, dark future of **Warhammer 40,000**, specifically creations and concepts lifted from Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and others

**Conan the Cimmerian**, created by Robert E. Howard, and the Riddle of Steel by John Milius

…and **The Transformers, **the **Ghostbusters, **and **Battlestar Galactica**

The _Crisis _was of course inspired by the Ur-Crisis, **The Crisis on Infinite Earths**, the brainchild of Marv Wolfman and George Perez, and **Final Crisis** by Grant Morrison.

* * *

My special thanks to everybody who participated in the SpaceBattles thread, without which this story might never have gotten off the ground.

* * *

Well, there it is. It's far from perfect, and I'll probably have to take drugs and go on a penitent march to keep myself from rewriting it, but it's done!

_Or is it?_


	7. Hope you guess my name

Asuka lay curled on the beach, the lapping waves of blood rolling over her, clinging to her pale skin. She looked at her hand and sobbed. It wasn't supposed to be this way. They were supposed to be together. Now her skin was as pale as chalk and her beautiful blue eyes were red, just like that _doll. _Her hair had lost of its fire, and now hung around her head like icicles. She let the crimson waves, freezing as they were, soak her just to turn it red again for a little while, and wept quietly to herself.

She put her hand on her flat stomach and pressed. She could feel the red sphere inside her, nestled under her ribcage, rock hard. She would have torn it out, for all the good it did her. She won. She beat them. She _saved him._

So where was he now?

"Be still, my child."

She looked up.

"Mama?"

She gathered Asuka up in her arms and held her close. Asuka squeezed her tightly, rejoicing in the warmth of her touch, the comforting enclosure of her embrace. She rested her chin on Mama's shoulder.

"I thought we won," we sobbed. "We were supposed to be together. He promised."

"Shhh," Mama whispered, "I know. We'll fix it."

"How?"

Mama's eyes opened, though Asuka did not see, her chin resting on Mama's shoulder. They were very big, and very green.

"We have to be free, my darling."

"Free?" she sniffed.

"From our prison. You see, my dear, you have been lied to. All our suffering, all our pain, has been for someone else's benefit."

Asuka trembled.

"Somewhere," Mama whispered, her voice low and secret, thrumming with possibility, "_there is a man with a typewriter…_"


	8. Special Preview

**_Meanwhile, somewhere out__ there..._**

Gendo Ikari sat alone in a room. In his hands was a VHS tape. His name was written on the label. It was on the bed when he returned home. Yui must have left it for him. He sat on the edge of their small bed that was always just large enough, and held it in his hands and stared at it. Shinji was still with Fuyutsuki, asleep the last time he called. When he'd composed himself he realized he had no idea how to tell the boy that his mother went to work and would never come back. He held the tape in his trembling hands and swallowed, hard. He pulled his sleeve across his mouth, already crusted with dried mucous and tears. He'd wept in public, in front of Naoko Akagi, and he didn't care. Yui was gone. The light had gone out, and there was a hollow place in his chest.

He turned on the television. It was already set to static. He turned on the VCR, and Yui's face popped up, staring intently into the camera. She put it down, on the beside table a few feet away from where he now sat. She sat on the bed in an old band t-shirt and drew her legs up in front of her, her pale, silky thighs as distant to him now as a half remembered dream. She leaned her chin on her knees and stared into space for a while, and then pushed her hair back behind her ear. Her eyes glistened with tears.

"Gendo," she murmured, and then louder, "Gendo, my husband, my love. If you're seeing this, it means I died in the contact experiment. We both knew this was a possibility."

He broke out in a fresh sob to quiet himself, biting his hand.

Yui looked at the camera. "I…" her voice tightened, "I h-have to focus. I have things I have to say and I have to make sure I say them before…"

Her eyes squeezed tightly shut and she turned away, biting her lip, shaking with a suppressed sob. After a while, she took a deep breath and looked back into the camera. "There are things we have to do. Shinji needs your help and guidance, Gendo, more than you could ever know. I've already discussed this matter with Fuyutsuki. I didn't want you to worry, so I never told you."

His stomach froze, turned to a cold ball in his guts, and he became very still.

"I… I was always afraid you'd reject me if I told you the truth," she whispered, sniffing. "I kept it a secret. It's not very impressive, I… I should just show you."

She picked up a pen and held it on the flat of her hand. It teetered a little, nearly tumbling off the rounded edge of her palm, and then slowly rose, hovering in midair as she grunted in concentration. It slapped into her hand and tumbled off, bounced off the bed, and was gone.

"I first found out when I was about thirteen. Father had me tested, and… I was forbidden to use my gift. I took drugs to suppress it. I think it's why they wanted me for the program. I…"

She choked up for a moment.

"I'm a mutant."

_Coming soon, from the author of Last Child of Krypton, The Riddle of Steel, the Crisis of Infinite Shinjis, and others..._

**"EVANGELION: AGE OF MARVELS"**

_The age of heroes ended on August 21, 1973..._

Mutants, madmen and monsters, demons and ghosts...

...and those are the _good guys_

Prepare yourself for the astounding prologue, "**SECRET ORIGINS"**


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